Terence Crawford should face Tim Tszyu next for the WBO junior middleweight title to give Errol Spence Jr time to get himself back together after his knockout last month.
Roy Jones Jr, and many boxing fans, feel that Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) needs time to get a couple of fights at 154 to rebuild his confidence and get a new start.
If Crawford takes on Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), he can potentially capture the WBO junior middleweight title and then have that in his possession to begin rounding up the other belts.
Tszyu is already calling the 154-lb division his weight class, and he welcomes a fight with Crawford or Spence.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is moving up in weight to 154 to go after the four belts to try and become a two-division undisputed champion.
The guy that he wants, Jermell Charlo, isn’t available because he is going to up to 168 to challenge undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez on September 30th.
Crawford to begin campaigning to 154
“Bud Crawford has been looking for a name to solidify himself on top of the pound-for-pound list for at least five years now. Errol Spence was that name,” said Roy Jones Jr to Fight Hub TV.
“Bud has two options. He can continue going up in weight and see how far he can go. I think he said already 154 is his max. So, he can campaign at 154 and maybe do a rematch or let Errol get himself back together first, which makes more sense, and then do a rematch.”
If Crawford is willing to move up to get the biggest fights possible, he would have endless opportunities for big fights. These are some of the names that Crawford could fight by moving up to 160 & 168:
- Carlos Adames
- Janibek Alimkhanuly
- Erislandy Lara
- David Morrell Jr
- Demetrius Andrade
- David Benavidez
- Jermell Charlo
- Dmitry Bivol
- Artur Beterbiev
- Caleb Plant
“So, for me, let Errol get himself together first and then do a rematch is much better. To fight him right now is not good because like I said. The weight gain wasn’t the only problem.
“Coming back from that is like coming back from the dead,” said Roy about the Spence Jr’s car wreck. “He, unfortunately, didn’t get the opportunity to fight, I would say, from his side.
“With the way their careers have been built, I don’t think Errol’s career, from a technical standpoint, from a coaches view, had advanced the way that Bud’s career had advanced. I say that because a lot of people were trying to compare opposition to me.
“You can’t compare opposition when one guy [Spence] has won every fight he’s had as the A-side or the guy that we expected to win, including when he fought Kell Brook over in the UK.
“When you look at it from a coaches’ standpoint, one guy [Spence] only needed a screwdriver for the job, and he got a lot of jobs done because he only needed a screwdriver. The other guy [Crawford] had to use his entire toolbox from day one.
“So, he’s got more practice using his entire toolbox than the guy that has only used a screwdriver. Does it mean the guy with a screwdriver did it wrong? No, he got the job completed that he could fix with that screwdriver, but when it comes to the guy that is using all his tools, he’s not going to be able to match up.
“Crawford has been forced to use his toolbox, and Crawford has also been looking for an opponent that catapults him to the top of the pound-for-pound list for five years. He’s always been there, but nobody knew it because he didn’t have the opposition to get him there.
“Floyd [Mayweather Jr] had De La Hoya first; then he had Pacquiao, then he had Ricky Hatton. He had a lot of names that people knew, and if you beat those guys, they catapult you.
“Tyson Fury had Wilder three times. It put him right up there. Canelo had GGG [and Mayweather & Miguel Cotto], and it put him right up there. So who did Crawford have? Nobody in the world knew. When I say the world, I mean mainly the United States of America.
“Even the guys in the UK know that if you can’t conquer America, you’re not bonafide,” said Jones.
