“Benvidez doesn’t beat No Bud Crawford at 168”

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

Crawford’s complexity factor

Bradley states that he rewatched Benavidez’s fight against former IBF 168-lb champion Caleb Plant from March 2023 and believes Crawford is too complex for him. He would use the mistakes he made in his fight with Zemach to defeat him.

The weight drain problem

It will be difficult for Benavidez (30-0, 24 points) to get back to 168, as he has been at 175 since 2024. It will take a lot from him to drop back down to his old super middleweight weight class.

“If Benavidez was at 168 again, he’s not beating any Bud Crawford. No, he’s not beating Crawford,” said Tim Bradley channel. “Shakor was right. He always said that. ‘Benvidez can’t beat him’.”

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

Crawford doesn’t like getting hit and will take fewer risks to land his shots compared to what Plant did in his loss to Benavidez. All the running around Crawford in his narrow win over Canelo Alvarez on September 13th won’t do the trick 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. And it’s all about making him pay often. I would never bet against Crawford because I know what this man is made of,” Benavidez said.

Crawford wasn’t taking any chances against the low-output Canelo, and he’ll have to throw more punches if he fights Benavidez if he wants to win. Hit and run won’t do for Bud. It would be admirable if Terence fought as aggressively as he did against Yisrael Madrimov and Errol Spence.

We didn’t see this version of Crawford in the Canelo fight, and we would see even less against Benavidez because of his size and bulk.

Dan Ambrose has been following boxing since 2011, sharing his passion for the sport’s stars and biggest fights.