Turki Alalshikh hinted that David Benavidez might be next for Terence Crawford to fight, following his victory over the fading, well-worn Mexican great Canelo Alvarez last Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Viral Post
Alalshikh took to X to ask if Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs), and the post went viral with 754.7K viewers looking at it, with many expressing huge interest in seeing a fight between ‘The Mexican Monster’ Benavidez and Crawford.
Can David Benavidez still make 168 pounds? 🤔
— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) September 14, 2025
Turki’s question above about whether Benavidez can still make 168 is a reasonable one. Still, he has already stated recently that he can no longer make weight for the super middleweight division. Unless Turki can offer Benavidez the money that would make him change his mind, the fight might not be doable.
If there’s interest on Crawford’s part, the obvious thing to do would be to have the match take place at a catchweight of 172 lbs. That’s a weight that Benavidez, 28, might be able to make, and it shouldn’t be a big issue for Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) because he walks around in the 180s between fights.
Crawford’s Fear of Defeat
If Terence is unwilling to fight Benavidez at 172, it suggests something beyond the weight as his reason for turning it down. It would have more to do with fear, worry about his carefully built resume and legacy. After all, Crawford’s best career wins were against these faded fighters nearing the ends of their careers:
- Canelo Alvarez
- Ricky Burns
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Shawn Porter
- Errol Spence
Benavidez is in the prime of his career and doesn’t fit in the mold of the typical fighter that Crawford has fought when facing well-known opposition. So, there’s a high probability that Crawford will reject a fight against Benavidez if it’s offered to him by Turki at any price.
Holes in the Resume
There’s too much risk that he would be beaten by Benavidez, perhaps quite severely, and his carefully crafted legacy would have holes shot through it in that defeat. The spotlight would be put on Crawford for the first time to show who he really is as a fighter, and it might not be pretty for him.