Turki Hints At Crawford Omaha Surprise, Fans Want Benavidez

Turki Alalshikh says Terence Crawford has a surprise for his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and has one for “the future.” He said that Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) will rest for “one or two months” before the “surprise” is announced.

Omaha Isn’t Boxing’s Center Stage

It’s hard to believe that Turki would consider Crawford fighting in hometown as something that would impress fans. That’s not even worth mentioning. Apart from people who live in that city, the general public won’t care. Fans want to see Crawford fight someone good that isn’t old, flat-footed, and dealing with poor stamina.

They want to see Crawford test himself against an elite-level fighter for the first time in his career, like one of these guys:

• David Benavidez
• Jaron Ennis
• Christian Mbilly
• Osleys Iglesias
• Dmitry Bivol
• Artur Beterbiev
• David Morrell

In other words, they want to see Crawford fight someone who can beat him. If he’s serious about wanting to be on the Mount Rushmore of boxing, he’ll fight one of these fighters next.

“This is the gloves of the champ. He gave it to me, and it’s important. We do it,” said Turki Alalshikh to Ring Magazine to Terence Crawford after he came to his office to give him the gloves he wore for his win over Canelo Alvarez.

“The champ has a lot of surprises for his city [Omaha, Nebraska], and the future. He wants to rest now for one or two months, and then we will tell you the surprise,” said Turki about Crawford.

Fans on social media have already predicted what the “surprise” will be about.

1. Homecoming: Crawford will fight in front of his hometown fans in a Riyadh Season event. It’s not an ideal location for the media or fans on the East or West Coasts. It’s out there in the middle of nowhere.
2. Beatable opponent: Fans believe that Terence will fight either Carlos Adames or Jermall Charlo next. He won’t be fighting middleweight champions Janibek Alimkhnuly or Erislandy Lara because they’re expected to fight each other next.

Matching Crawford against the faded Canelo was essentially a gift. The money that it took to get Canelo to agree to the fight against Crawford resulted in very little value.

Turki could have used the money he spent on Crawford and Canelo to acquire a younger fighter with a long future ahead of him, such as David Benavidez or Jaron Ennis.

Using the $50 million on the 38-year-old Crawford was arguably a waste, because whatever surge in popularity that he received isn’t sustainable.

Why Crawford Won’t Risk It

Terence is going to retire soon. Even if he doesn’t, he’s not expected to fight anyone risky like Benavidez, Christian Mbilli, Lester Martinez, or Ennis. Bud isn’t going to want to risk his all-time great, GOAT, and Mount Rushmore status by fighting someone who can beat him.

He’s gotten this far without ever fighting an elite-level fighter to manufacture a 42-0 record. Now that he’s been marketed as a great, Crawford’s not going to be put with someone real that can show that he was artificial.

It would make Turki look bad if Crawford were obliterated by Benavidez, Mbilli, Lester, Jaron Ennis, or one of the 154-pounders. I would include some of the middleweights, but that division currently lacks great talent.