ESPN Ringside has shared a few snapshots of Jared Anderson and Terence Crawford. It shows the former undisputed welterweight champion watching with rapt attention while the young heavyweight contender trains. Since the time they came, the photos have been gaining considerable traction among fans.

On August 3, Terence Crawford will kick off his campaign in the 154-pound weight class. He will face WBA light middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. The event, conducted under Riyadh Season’s auspices, features quite a few exciting cards. It seems there are two non-title fights, both in the heavyweight division. Aside from the bout between Andy Ruiz Jr. and Jarrell Miller, upcoming contender Jared Anderson squares up against Martin Bakole.

Terence Crawford and Jared Anderson, Understanding Sweet Science Together

The tweet read, “Bud and Big Baby in the lab.” 24-year-old Anderson defended his regional title against Ryad Merhy on August 13 last year. In Bakole, he faces a formidable opponent with a justified pedigree. The Congolese boxer stands as the as the number one ranked boxer on the WBA’s heavyweight list. Clearly, ‘The Real Big Baby’ doesn’t want to leave any stone unturned.

Understandably, the Toledo-born boxer may perhaps want to retain his unbeaten streak. Additionally, a win over another ranking heavyweight promises a better standing in the hierarchy. There were talks of fighting against Deontay Wilder. But as it appears, the showdown may now have a negligible chance of happening, given how ‘The Bronze Bomber’ suffered his fourth defeat at the hands of Zhilei Zhang.

Jared Anderson might enjoy an edge over Martin Bakole in terms of the knockout-to-win rate. However, the former sparring partner of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk packs a potent punch. Thus, a word from the wise in such a situation often comes in handy.

Wisdom in the Ring, Fans Thrilled

Most of the users seemed happy with the photos. One of the biggest names in modern boxing, lending a helping hand to a rising star, is a delight for the eyes. Let’s check out how some of the fans reacted.

The photo seems to have shocked this user. With ‘Bud’ Crawford by his side, probably Jared Anderson could be expected to wipe out most of the competition in the heavyweight division, the user seems to believe.

Then the next user also appears to share similar thoughts. With guidance from the P4P legend, Jared Anderson is on a sure-shot path to heavyweight dominance, the user said.

WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames 23-1 (18) vehemently objects to the idea of Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 40-0 (31) jumping up in weight to face undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 61-2-2 (39).

Crawford won his first world title as a lightweight a decade ago before moving up to unify all four major world titles at junior welterweight. He repeated the feat at welterweight.

The 36-year-old switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska will return to the ring in two months time when he moves up in weight again to challenge WBA junior middleweight champion Uzbeki Israil Madrimov 10-0-1 (7) at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California on August 3 on a card financed by boxing kingmaker Alalshikh, chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia.

Alalshikh has changed the sport on boxing in less than a year. With a seemingly unlimited budget, he can offer the sort or purses that make any fight possible.

And one fight he wants is Crawford up against 33-year-old Mexican superstar Alvarez.

But not everybody is down with the idea. Dominican Adames, 30, is amongst the critics.

“Weight classes are there for a reason. Terence Crawford is one hell of a fighter, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s the type of agile fighter that has power, but his type of power resides in a division that bodes well for him,” Adames explained to FightHype.

“When I sparred with him, I had two pro fights in my ledger. I was more of an amateur at that time at 19. If he were to fight me now, over a decade [later], I’m 30 now and a full-grown man now. I was a kid back then. It would be a completely different deal.”

Adames cited Alvarez’s ill-fated visit to 175-pounds when he challenged WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol 23-0 (12) two years ago. Alvarez was roundly out-boxed and returned to 168-pounds.

“When it comes to weight classes, look at what Canelo did with Bivol. He couldn’t hurt him at 175 the way he hurt his opponents at 168. Why? Because the weight difference between Bivol and Canelo was evident,” said Adames, who will defend his own belt against 36-year-old US Olympian Terrell Gausha 24-3-1 (12) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 15.

“Canelo, on the other hand, would be able to hurt Crawford in a way that he usually does at 168 because of the weight advantage.

“So to summarise, I think this fight is absolutely stupid. I don’t think it makes any sense at all and if Crawford wants to make it happen, I think he should do his progression and fight Canelo at that weight when the time is right.”

Adames was elevated from WBC interim champion to full titleholder last month when the Mexican-based sanctioning body stripped troubled American Jermall Charlo 33-0 (22) of their belt.

Deontay Wilder will no longer be competing on the Israil Madrimov vs Terence Crawford undercard on August 3.

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh was lining up a fight between Wilder and Jared Anderson in Los Angeles provided he defeated Zhilei Zhang.

Zhilei Zhang appears to have ended Deontay Wilder’s career

However, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was knocked out in the fifth round by Zhang last weekend, spelling an end to Alalshikh’s plans.

It now seems highly likely that Wilder will hang up his gloves after admitting before the fight that defeat could spell the end of his career.

But one man’s loss is another man’s gain – and Martin Bakole has now been given the call to face Anderson instead.

The Congolese boxer has been steadily climbing up the heavyweight rankings after falling to defeat for the first and only time in his 21-fight (20-1) career against Michael Hunter in 2018.

Bakole recently recorded a career-best win against former world title challenger Carlos Takam in October.

However, he has struggled to land a big fight since.

He was in negotiations to face Joe Joyce next but according to his trainer and manager Billy Nelson, ‘The Juggernaut’ pulled out of the fight to pursue a domestic dust-up with Derek Chisora on July 27.

The difficulty of finding a fight for Bakole has led to his promoter Ben Shalom branding him ‘the most avoided heavyweight’ on the planet.

Hall of Famer Tim Bradley has an extremely confident pick for a prime versus prime fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Terence Crawford.

‘Bud’ Crawford became two-time undisputed last year with an impressive stoppage of previously undefeated Errol Spence Jr. He will now make the move to 154 to challenge for two belts against Israil Madrimov on August 3.

Mayweather won 15 world title in four different weight classes. Almost defensively flawless, ‘Money’ changed the landscape of boxing and was the most successful pay-per-view star the sport has ever seen.

Since the pair crossed over weight classes, there’s no doubt that a fantasy fight is high on the lists of fans who like to play cross-generational matchmaking.

Speaking to FightHype, Bradley backed Crawford and gave his reason

“I talked about this years ago, everybody thought I was crazy. Probably five or six years ago I talked about Crawford and Mayweather. And I will say this again, Terence Crawford would beat a prime Mayweather … Yes it would be a competitive fight, but Crawford [is a] master thinker just like Floyd.

The advantage that Floyd has is that he has great defence. The advantage that Crawford has is that he can not only fight orthodox, he can also fight southpaw. He’s versatile. We all know that Floyd don’t like to fight southpaws. Yes he’s been beaten some good southpaws, but a lot of these guys gave him some issues.

What happens when you have a guy that’s just as smart as you are and able to make adjustments like Crawford? Come on man, I’m telling y’all! A guy that can hurt you with either hand, powerful, strong, quick. A guy can fight you in the pocket. A guy that knows how to execute that Philly shell. He knows how to bust through that. Trust me. He knows.”

After Crawford looks for success in a fourth weight class – a fight Bradley of course backs him to win – he’s expected to continue calling out a former Mayweather opponent in Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez.