Morrell slams Canelo-Crawford: “Fake fight, just for business”

David Morrell says a potential fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford is a “Fake” one, made just for “business” purposes.

The Canelo-Crawford fight hasn't happened yet, but His Excellency Turki Alalshikh mentioned in an interview that Crawford is injured until May 2025. That's obviously when Canelo will fight next. Turki will try to set up this fight.

Morrell 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 wasn't a competitive matchup. 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 arrange a fight between Crawford and WBC interim 154-pound champion Vergil Ortiz Jr for the Feb. 22 giant card in Riyadh, and he said Terence was slightly injured. .

Crawford would never fight Vergil because it's risky, and he's looking to hit the jackpot with a golden parachute retirement day against Canelo. Turki had previously mentioned that he didn't think Crawford would agree to fight Ortiz Jr., so it was obvious he wouldn't be an option for the February 22 card.

WBA 'regular' light heavyweight champion Morrell says he doesn't like Canelo defending his three unified super middleweight belts against Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who would move up from 154 .

“Bulls***!” » – Morrell on Canelo

Morrell believes Canelo should defend his titles against contenders at 168 instead of choosing the 37-year-old Crawford to defend his title. He says it’s “bullshit” if Canelo does this.

He's already fought Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia rather than face David Benavidez when he was his WBC proxy. He showed no interest in fighting Morrell either when he was 168 and held the WBA “regular” belt.

“It’s simple. This fight is not good,” Morrell told Fighthype, reacting when asked what he thought about Crawford potentially fighting Alvarez in May 2025. “Canelo is one weight, and Crawford is a different weight . It's for business. Canelo has a lot of good fighters at 168.

“He is [Crawford] 154. It's only for business. For me, this is not good. Canelo has four good people at 168 that make for a good fight. Before, Benavidez was 168 years old. Why didn't they fight? Why fight Munguia? Canelo once said: “I never fight the Mexican people.” Why did you fight Munguia? Later, you fight Berlanga.

“You have a guy at 168 who is mandatory. So right now it's [Canelo-Crawford] is for business only. They are finishing their careers. They still have two years, three years older. Any guy for money. You have guys at 168. You don't need a guy at 154. [Crawford]. To me, that's bullshit.

Sanctioning bodies allow this type of thing in sports, and it's pathetic. Canelo defended his then-undisputed super middleweight title against Jermell, although Charlo had never fought at 168 before. It looks bad when Canelo overrides top super middleweight titles to defend against someone at 154.

Morrell vs. Benavidez: the REAL fight

“For me, it’s the best fight in 2025. It’s Cuba and Mexico. They’re two young guys,” Morrell said of his fight against Benavidez on February 1. “Everyone says he’s the bogeyman. I say no. It's really a great fight. This night is not shit. It's not wrong. Everyone goes to Vegas. I promise you a good show.

Morrell defends his WBA “regular” light heavyweight title against Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) on February 1 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be broadcast live on PBC on Main video PPV. The winner of the fight will be able to fight for the undisputed 175-pound championship against the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 rematch.

“Benavidez is fake intimidation. Before, he would say stupid things 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 like he did.

Benavidez hasn't fought anyone who was considered a 50-50 matchup in years, and he might have already done so if he had agreed to fight Morrell when he first called it quits in 2022. He could have moved up to light heavyweight. earlier in his career to test himself instead of waiting until now.

“If you’re nice, I’m nice.” But if you're a bad boy, I'm more of a bad boy than you. Right now, for me, it’s 100 percent personal,” Morrell said of Benavidez.

“I looked good for a new division, but I know I can do better,” Morrell said of his debut at 175 against Radivoje Kalajdzic on August 3.

Morrell is coming off a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision over Kalajdzic (29-3, 21 KO), and he looked good in that fight, hurting him several times.