Tim Bradley warns Terence Crawford that the champion he is targeting is ‘not to be messed with’

Pound-for-pound superstar Terence Crawford may look to add even more to his legacy before he hangs up the gloves, but Tim Bradley has warned ‘Bud’ not to overlook one of his potential opponents.

Crawford moved up to super-middleweight and dethroned Canelo Alvarez in one of the greatest performances since the turn of the millennium, becoming boxing’s first three-division undisputed champion of the four-belt era in the process.

Now, recent rumours suggest that the Omaha-born operator will drop down to middleweight for a fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly to attempt to become the third six-division world champion in boxing history. He has admitted he ‘has eyes’ on the Kazakh star.

Although, on his YouTube channel, two-division world champion Bradley advised ‘Bud’ to take unified WBO & IBF middleweight world champion Janibek very seriously, despite the his lack of fame.

“Janibek ain’t no joke. Oh, no. That is a tough fight for Terence Crawford. I love me some Crawford, man, y’all know what time it is, but I gotta call a spade a damn spade. Janibek ain’t nothing to mess with. He cold. Southpaw.

“You ain’t know much about him? That’s fine, you ain’t gotta know much about him. I’m here to tell you – speed, power, size, defence, offence, footwork, angle. Dude is cold, man.

“He’s a damn killer. If Crawford goes down and faces that dude, his legacy [could be damaged]. It may not be a marquee name, everybody going to be tuning in to see the greatness of Terence Crawford and I’m here to tell you, Janibek ain’t here to be messed with.”

Alimkhanuly meets WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara in a three-belt unification clash in two weeks’ time, with Crawford potentially aiming to take on the victor of that contest. He has, however, also been linked with a rematch against Canelo.