“Benavidez doesn’t beat any Bud Crawford at 168.”

Tim Bradley says David Benavidez will lose to undisputed super middleweight champion Terence Crawford if he returns to 168.

Crawford complexity factor

Bradley stated that he re-watched Benavidez’s fight against former IBF 168-pound champion Caleb Plant from March 2023, and believes Crawford is too complex for him. He will exploit the mistakes he made in his fight with Plant to defeat him.

Weight loss problem

It will be difficult for Benavidez (30-0, 24 KO) to return to 168, as he has been campaigning at 175 since 2024. Returning to his old weight class at super middleweight will take a lot out of him.

“If Benavidez is 168 again, he’s not going to beat Bud Crawford. No, he’s not going to beat Crawford,” Tim Bradley said on his website. channel. “Shakur was right. He always said that. ‘Benavidez can’t beat him.’

If Benavidez fights as poorly as he did in the first five rounds against Caleb Plant in 2023, Crawford will have a good chance of beating him. The problem is that Crawford isn’t old, young or dangerous enough offensively to get away with what Plante did against Benavidez.

Crawford doesn’t like to get hit and will take less risks in landing his shots than Plant did in his loss to Benavidez. Everything Crawford did in his narrow win over Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13 didn’t get the job done against the “Mexican Monster.”

Why would Bud make him pay?

“But the size. This is a guy who knows how to use his size, and he puts that pressure on you. He makes a lot of mistakes. Someone with Crawford’s complexity is going to see all the mistakes and make him pay for them. It’s all about making him pay more often than not. I would never bet against Crawford because I know what this guy is made of,” Benavidez said.

Crawford wasn’t taking chances against the low-production Canelo, and he would have to throw more punches if he fought Benavidez if he wanted to win. Hit and run won’t get the job done for Bud. It would be impressive if Terence fought as hard as he did against Israel Madrimov and Errol Spence.

We didn’t see that version of Crawford in the Canelo fight, and we’ll see even less of that against Benavidez given his size and size.

Dan Ambrose has been following boxing since 2011, and shares his passion for the biggest stars and fights in the sport.