Terence Crawford is currently doing a victory lap around the media, and it’s for good reason.
On Saturday, the 13th of September, in front of more than 70,000 fans at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Bud shook up the world with another legacy-defining performance as he dominated Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez over 12 rounds. The clear victory earned Crawford the Mexican’s undisputed world championship at super middleweight — the fifth weight class he’s won a title in.
There are only a few opponents who make sense to Crawford now that he’s only really fighting once a year, and he may have developed an appetite for super fights considering his marquee wins over Errol Spence Jr and now Canelo. Keep scrolling to find out the four fighters we think would make the best opponents for Bud, as well as the one obvious fighter he’ll shun.
Sebastian Fundora — super welterweight
Can you imagine the disgustingly watchable violence that Crawford and Sebastian Fundora could create if they shared the ring together?
The Fundora family are one of boxing’s great dynasties, with Gabriela a queen in the women’s game, and Sebastian a terrific force in the men’s, too. I’ve been ringside for his nastiest fights, including his ninth-round stoppage win over Erickson Lubin — a clear Fight of the Year contender in 2022 — and his brutal, two-fight series against Tim Tszyu from 2024 to 2025.
Fundora is a WBC world champion at super welterweight, which could cause a possible stumbling block as Crawford recently told GIVE ME SPORT and other reporters that it’s unlikely he’ll drop back to 154 pounds. However, this could be an option in the near future, if and when Fundora moves to middleweight, and/or Crawford gets a belt in that division for Fundora to move into and challenge for.
This could be one of the best bouts boxing could make.
Janibek Alimkhanuly — middleweight
This is the fighter who has the lowest name-value out of all names put forward on this least, but he’s the one with the most amound of hardware.
Janibek Alimkhanuly is a 32-year-old Kazakh middleweight who is unbeaten after 17 fights (12 KOs) and has beaten the likes of Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and Denzel Bentley en route to becoming a two-time champion in the 160-pound division, with the WBO and IBF titles.
Janibek has fought in his native Kazahkstan, Texas, California, and Australia, however, a Crawford vs Janibek fight would no doubt be a Las Vegas bout — where both fighters have boxed before. For Crawford, it represents a clear opponent to win a world title against in what would be his sixth weight class. Should he become a six-weight world champ, he’d be only the third male fighter to do so, following in the footsteps of Oscar de la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao.
Gennadiy Golovkin — super middleweight
If Crawford wasn’t yet interested in fighting Janibek, a fighter who has been called the next Gennadiy Golovkin, then he could take on the actual Golovkin — a former middleweight champion, and super middleweight championship challenger.
Though Golovkin has been out of the game for three years, Crawford would add a future Hall-of-Famer to his resume with the victory, as it would be a clear legacy fight.
Golovkin, too, has indicated he’s tempted with a ring return when speaking this week to Boxing Scene’s Tom Ivers. Whether Golovkin would test the waters with a lighter touch, first, before a considerable challenge against the likes of Crawford remains to be seen. But a Crawford vs Golovkin fight is at least within the realms of possibilities for Bud.
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez II — super middleweight
If the first was so nice, Bud could try to do it twice.
Netflix reported 41 million people watched the Canelo vs Crawford fight, and if there were no appetizing alternatives to Bud right now, he could explore the do-over.
It might, though, be a tricky sell. Despite the extraordinary TV-viewing figures, there was never really a moment in the fight in which Canelo was ahead, or had built a lead to suggest that he was capable of winning the fight. But there never was. He never looked capable of hurting Crawford, and he lacked the necessary skills to out-box him in seven of the 12 rounds to score a win via decision.
Regardless, fights have been run back for less.
Jaron Ennis — super welterweight
One opponent Crawford will no doubt avoid, is Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
This isn’t to suggest Crawford is ducking Jaron. Far from it. Ennis is yet to score the kind of signature win, or dominance of a weight class, that warrants a guarantee that he’s a suitable B-side for someone like Crawford for where Bud is right now in his career.
When asked at the post-event presser if he’d fight Ennis, Crawford told GIVE ME SPORT and other reporters, simply, “No.”
“I ain’t going down to 154.”
Ennis was a name that bristled Crawford’s publicist, too, who gestured in the media room to move on to the next reporter.
Ilia Topuria — UFC
If Crawford will ignore Ennis, then he, too, should swerve Ilia Topuria for now.
There are greater challenges for both guys in their respective sports. Topuria, for example, should focus on Paddy Pimblett, Arman Tsarukyan, and Islam Makhachev. While Crawford has greater history to chase by taking on Golovkin and adding a future Hall-of-Famer to his resume, beating Janibek for the chance to become a six-weight world champion, or clashing with Fundora to engage in a brutal bloodbath.
A crossover fight with Topuria arguably has a greater chance of happening than one against Ennis, but it’s the sort of bout Crawford should take once he’s pretty much done with boxing, and has one foot out of the door ahead of retirement — akin to Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.