There was always going to be a grace period for Terence Crawford to make a decision for his future. After stunning Canelo Alvarez with a dominant victory in September, Crawford has tons of options. He can stay at 168 and defend his new throne, or he can try to dominate yet another weight class.
The most realistic option appears to be dropping down to middleweight. At 38 years old, 160 pounds may very well be Bud’s ideal weight class. He knows he can deliver damage to boxers at higher weights, so doing so at 160 could prove relatively easy. The issue looked to be his potential top opponent in the division, Janibek Alimkhanuly, being an extremely dangerous fighter.
Janibek Alimkhanuly no longer an option for Terence Crawford after failed PED test
Boxing pundit Timothy Bradley was quoted as saying Alimkhanuly could give Crawford a lot of trouble, and that Bud should actually avoid him. Thankfully for Crawford, that may not even become an option. On Tuesday, it was reported by Mike Coppinger of Ring Magazine that Alimkhanuly failed a PED test.
The boxer claims the first test came back clean, but “I don’t know what happened with the second test“. He has apparently requested a re-test. Alimkhanuly was getting set to fight Erislandy Lara in a unification bout this upcoming weekend. That is now in serious jeopardy.
With neither Alimkhanuly or Lara able to unify, if the fight doesn’t go ahead, that almost eliminates the possibility of Crawford going down to middleweight. Crawford’s future, as much as Alimkhanuly’s, is up in the air.
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