Terence Crawford recently made his next target known, and now the man in question has responded to the pound-for-pound great.
Crawford is still riding high after defeating Canelo Alvarez to become undisputed super-middleweight champion in September, with rumours growing ever since about who ‘Bud’ may want to take on next.
He appeared to end that speculation last week when he stated that he currently has his eyes on undefeated middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, meaning the December 6 middleweight unification between Janibek and Erislandy Lara could have more than belts on the line.
In just over four weeks the 160lb division will have two champions – Janibek or Lara with three of them with the fourth (WBC) in the possession of Carlos Adames.
At the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, Janibek puts his WBO and IBF titles on the lines against the WBA held by Lara. The much needed divisional match-up will have many a keen observer but perhaps none bigger than Crawford.
It means the stakes may have been raised for next month’s three-belt unification but how does Janibek feel about a potential mega-fight against Crawford? Speaking at a virtual press conference ahead of his next fight he revealed his stance.
“Yes, of course, it would be a very, very good fight and I will be ready for it because it’s a big fight and I think everybody would be looking into it.”
The Kazakhstan fighter has looked a class above his opposition to date but will be in deeper waters than normal against Lara who has shared the ring with world-class opponents in his career to date.
While the Crawford carrot appears to be dangling Janibek admits his motivations, for now, lie elsewhere.
“The motivation is for me to get all four titles and that’s what I’m trying to do. Of course, if a possibility would be to fight with a fighter like Crawford that would be a huge opportunity and it would give me a lot of motivation.”
Crawford had also recently been linked to a shock fight against Jake Paul, but has already appeared to rule that out, making Janibek the frontrunner for now.
