Crawford Holding 168 Belts Hostage Until Canelo Rematch?

The chances of Terence Crawford defending his remaining three super middleweight titles against a non-Canelo Alvarez opponent are considered slim by fans.

The Four Young Killers at 168

The 38-year-old Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) has these four top contenders bearing down on him like a pack of hungry wolves:

• Christian Mbilli
• Osleys Iglesias
• Lester Martinez
• Hamzah Sheeraz

With the WBC stripping Crawford of his title last week for his failure to pay the reduced $300,000, Mbilli and Sheeraz will likely fight for the belt. So, he may not have to worry about them going after him.

The Threat of Iglesias & Martinez

There’s still Iglesias and Lester Martinez, who would be a terror for an aging, Shakur-esque Crawford to deal with. He couldn’t potshot and move his way to a narrow victory against them as he did against Alvarez in their ‘Fight of the Century’ on September 13th. He’d actually have to fight Lester and Osleys. That’s not good for a fighter like Crawford, who lacks the power and willingness to stick his head out of the foxhole and get it taken off by one of those young phenoms.

The $100M Rematch Price Barrier

The only fighter that Crawford is expected to be willing to defend his IBF, WBA, and WBO 168-lb titles against is Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs). But that’s still iffy because of the $100 million demands from Crawford. Fans believe that Terence is still hoping that Turki Alalshikh and the Saudis will finance the rematch with Canelo.

If Turki is going to fund a second fight, he’d have to be willing to meet Crawford’s enormous price tag, along with Canelo’s. Value-wise, it’s hard to justify either of them getting even a quarter of what they earned in their fight last September. Crawford’s $50 million and Canelo’s $100 million. They fought like two older fighters, not taking risks and doing the minimum. Will Turki want to give them pay raises based on how they looked last time?

If the rematch does happen, it’ll be in 2026 at some point. The second half of the year would allow Canelo’s injured elbow to be fully healed. It’s not a big deal for Crawford that he would need to wait because he only fights once a year and has been doing that for the last five years.