David Morrell says a possible fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford is “Imitation” one, it was only made for “business” purposes.
The Canelo-Crawford fight hasn’t happened yet, but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh mentioned in an interview that Crawford is out with an injury until May 2025. Apparently that’s when Canelo will fight next. Turki will try to put this fight together.
Morel doesn’t like the idea of Canelo defending against another 154-pounder. He fought four unified junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo at 168 on September 30, 2023 and it was not a competitive fight. Jermell is bigger and stronger than Crawford. He was too weak for Canelo and looked scared.
Alalshikh was asked why he didn’t try to set up a fight between Crawford and WBC 154-lb interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr for the Feb. 22 giant card in Riyadh, and he said Terence was out with a minor injury.
Crawford would never fight Virgil because he is dangerous and wants to hit the jackpot with a golden parachute retirement payday vs. Canelo. Turki previously stated that he didn’t think Crawford would agree to fight Ortiz Jr., so it was obvious that he wasn’t going to be an option for the February 22 card.
WBA “regular” lightweight champion Morrell says he doesn’t fancy Canelo defending his three unified super middleweight belts against Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who would move up from 154.
“Bulls***!” – Morel to Canelo
Morrell believes Canelo should defend his titles against contenders at 168 instead of choosing the 37-year-old Crawford for his title defense. He says it’s “Bull s***” if Canelo does that.
He already fought Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia instead of facing David Benavidez when he was WBC mandatory. He showed no interest in fighting Morrell when he was at 168 and held the “regular” WBA belt.
“It’s simple. This fight is not good,” Morrell told Fighthype, reacting when asked about his thoughts on Crawford possibly fighting Alvarez in May 2025. “Canelo is a weight and Crawford is a different weight. It’s for business reasons. Canelo has a lot of good fighters at 168.
“He (Crawford) is 154. It’s just for business. It’s not good for me. Canelo has four good people at 168 which is a good fight. Before, Benavidez was at 168. Why didn’t they fight? Why fight Munguia? Canelo has said before, “I never fight the Mexican people.” Why did you fight Munguia? Later, you fight Berlanga.
“You’ve got a guy at 168 that’s mandatory. So right now, it’s (Canelo-Crawford) it’s just business. They finish their careers. They have two more years, three more years. Any guy for money. You have kids at 168. You don’t need a man at 154 (Crawford). To me, it’s bull s***.
Sanctioning bodies allow this kind of thing to continue in the sport, and it’s pathetic. Canelo defended his then-undisputed super middleweight title against Jermell, even though Charlo had never fought before at 168. It looks bad when Canelo goes over top super middleweight titles to defend against someone at 154.
Morrell vs. Benavidez: The REAL Fight
“For me, it’s the best race of 2025. It’s Cuba and Mexico. They’re two young guys,” Morrell said of his Feb. 1 fight against Benavidez. “Everybody says he’s the boogeyman. i say no It’s a really big fight. This night is no bulls***. It’s not fake. Everyone go to Vegas. I promise you a good show.”
Morrell defends his “regular” WBA light heavyweight title against Benavidez (29-0, 24 KOs) on February 1st at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be broadcast live on PBC on Prime Video PPV. The winner of the bout will be able to challenge for the undisputed 175-pound championship against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.
“Benavidez is fake bullying. Before, he would talk to people and they wouldn’t say anything. I’m different,” Morrell said of David Benavidez being a bully unless you stand up to him as he is.
Benavidez hasn’t fought anyone that was considered a 50-50 fight in years and could have done so by now if he had agreed to fight Morel when he first called in 2022. He could have moved up to light heavyweight earlier in the his career to test himself instead of waiting until now.
“If you’re good, I’m good. But if you’re a bad boy, I’m a bad boy than you. Right now, for me, it’s 100 percent personal,” Morrell said of Benavidez.
“I looked good for a new weight class, but I know I can look better,” Morrell said of his 175 debut against Radivoje Kalajdzic on Aug. 3.
Morrell is coming off a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision over Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KOs) and looked good in this fight, hurting him several times.
