David Morrell says a potential fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford is a “false” one, made only for “business” purposes.
The Canelo-Crawford fight has not yet taken place, but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh said in an interview that Crawford is out with an injury until May 2025. It is obvious when Canelo will fight next. Turki will try to put the fight together.
Morrell doesn’t like the idea of Canelo defending against another 154-pounder. He fought four-time unified junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo at 168 on September 30, 2023, and it was not a competitive matchup. Jermell is bigger and stronger than Crawford. He was too weak for Canelo and he looked scared.
Alalshikh was asked why he didn’t try to get in the fight between Crawford and interim WBC 154-pound champion Vergil Ortiz Jr on the Feb. 22 juggernaut card in Riyadh, and said Terence was out with a minor injury .
Crawford would never fight Vergil because it is risky, and he tries to hit the jackpot with one golden parachute retirement day against Canelo. Turki had previously said he didn’t think Crawford would agree to fight Ortiz Jr., so it was obvious that wasn’t an option for the February 22 card.
“Regular” WBA lightweight champion Morrell says he doesn’t like Canelo defending his three unified super-middleweight belts against Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who moves up from 154.
“Bulls***!” – Morrell on Canelo
Morrell thinks Canelo should defend his titles against contenders at 168 instead of picking the 37-year-old Crawford for the title defense. He says it’s “Bull s***” if Canelo does that.
He previously fought Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia instead of facing David Benavidez when he was his WBC agent. He showed no interest in fighting Morrell either when he was at 168 and held the “regular” WBA belt.
“It’s simple. This fight is not good,” Morrell told Fighthype, reacting to being asked about his thoughts on Crawford potentially fighting Alvarez in May 2025. “Canelo is a heavyweight, and Crawford is a different heavyweight. It’s about business. Canelo has a lot of good fighters at 168.
“He (Crawford) is 154. It’s just for business. For me, it’s not good. Canelo has four good people at 168 who are a good fight. Before, Benavidez was at 168. Why didn’t they fight? Why fight Munguia Canelo said before, “I never fought the Mexican people.” Next, you beat Berlanga.
“You have a guy at 168 who is mandatory. So, now, it’s (Canelo-Crawford) it’s just for business. They finish their careers. They have two more years, three more years. Some guy for money. You guys at 168. You don’t need a man at 154. To me, that’s bull shit.
The sanctioning bodies allow this kind of thing to go on in the sport, and it’s pathetic. Canelo defended his then-undisputed super middleweight title against Jermell, even though Charlo had never fought at 168 before. It looks bad when Canelo goes over the top super middleweight titles to defend against someone from 154.
Morrell vs. Benavidez: The REAL fight
“For me, it’s the best fight in 2025. It’s Cuba and Mexico. They’re two young people,” said Morrell about his fight against Benavidez on February 1. “Everybody says he’s the boogeyman. I say no. It’s a really big fight. Tonight is not bull shit. It’s not fake. Everybody’s going to Vegas. I promise you a good show.”
Morrell defends his WBA “regular” lightweight title against Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be shown live on PBC on Prime Video PPV. The winner of the fight will be in a position to challenge for the undisputed 175 lb championship against Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch winner.
“Benavidez is fake bullying. Before, he was talking shit to people, and they didn’t say anything. I’m different,” said Morrell that David Benavidez is a bully unless you deal with him like he is.
Benavidez hasn’t fought anyone who was considered a 50-50 match-up for years, and he might have now if he had agreed to fight Morrell when he first called in 2022. He might have moved up to heavyweight. light early in his career to prove himself instead of waiting until now.
“If you’re nice, I’m nice. But if you’re a bad boy, I’m more bad than you. Now, for me, it’s personal 100%,” Morrell said about Benavidez.
“I looked good for a new division, but I know I can look better,” Morrell said of his debut at 175 against Radivoje Kalajdzic on Aug. 3.
Morrell is coming off a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision over Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KOs), and he looked good in that fight, hurting him multiple times.
