Terence Crawford has already revealed reason for avoiding Turki Alalshikh’s suggested foe

Crawford revealed that he had not yet made any decisions regarding his plans after September 13, when questioned about a possible rematch with Canelo.

While that bout would clearly be the biggest on offer for ‘Bud’, there is another rising name that some fans – and Alalshikh among them – are keen to see him take on.

The Arizona native competed at super middleweight in November 2023, then moved up to light heavyweight for his following two fights.

During an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast earlier this year, Crawford was asked about the possibility of fighting Benavidez, but he did not seem interested.

“My thing is, Benavidez is a big dude. Not to say I won’t fight him, I fought his brother. His brother was big when I fought him. The only reason why I entertain Canelo is because he’s not a big dude. He might be thick but he’s not a big dude.

“Benavidez is like six foot something, then he’s gonna come in 190, 200 maybe, you know what I mean? You never know, that’s a big dude… I might as well go to heavyweight if I fight Benavidez.”

How David Benavidez stacks up against Terence Crawford and some of his previous rivals

David Benavidez became the youngest super middleweight world champion in boxing history at just 20, and he has been a rising star ever since.

He has not yet had the chance to face big names like Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, or even Dmitry Bivol or Artur Beterbiev, despite having a stunning undefeated record.

To provide some context, here is a comparison of Crawford and Benavidez, alongside Alvarez and Jose Benavidez Jr., who ‘Bud’ stopped in the twelfth round.

While Crawford and Alvarez were physically close, Benavidez poses a distinctly different challenge.