‘Bud’, 37, emerged victorious over Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, 35, in their brawl in Las Vegas on Saturday (13.09.25), but Benavidez Sr. has now argued his son ‘The Mexican Monster’, 28, would be too much for Crawford to handle.
Speaking with MillCity Boxing, the trainer said: “David is too big for Terence Crawford. I think Crawford will be 38 years old. It will not be the same as Canelo. David is young, strong, and super big for Terence Crawford. With David, it’s a different story.”
Crawford - who beat Canelo by unanimous decision - moved up to 168 lbs to compete in the super-middleweight division, though Benavidez Sr. thinks Bud needs to defeat other fighters in the weight class in order to get “full credit”.
He continued: “He has to beat some others at super middleweight to get the full credit. I don’t know if he can do it. He’s too small for that weight.”
Crawford’s victory over Canelo made him the first male boxer in the modern era to hold undisputed titles in three weight divisions, though Bud has said he may be looking to move down a division for his next fight.
Speaking after the match, he said: “I’m going to sit down with my team, and we are going to discuss what is next in the future for Terence Crawford. Who knows? I might go down to 160lbs.”
Crawford - who moved up two weight classes to meet Canelo - said his win is “definitely one of the greatest moments of [his] career”.
He said of his victory: “It feels great. I'm just sitting back, enjoying my victory.
“It definitely was one of the greatest moments of my career.”
When asked whether this victory was the greatest moment of his career, Crawford said it was “tough” to say, as becoming the undisputed light welterweight champion in 2017 also holds special meaning to him.
He said: “This moment [beating Canelo] was huge, but something about that first one – this little poor kid from Omaha, Nebraska, set his sights out to be a world champion and had to travel all across the world to become world champion.
“And on one night, all of the dreams came true. Those two moments are definitely special.”
