The boxing legend was sitting ringside in Las Vegas on Saturday night to watch Canelo’s dominant win over former undisputed 154lb champion Jermell Charlo.
Charlo jumped up two weight divisions to test himself against the Mexican superstar who floored him in round seven and ultimately picked up a lopsided unanimous decision victory.
Crawford has been talking about going up three weight divisions to challenge Canelo since becoming undisputed at 147lbs by stopping Errol Spence earlier this year.
Jones Jr thinks Canelo would be too much for Crawford right now but insists his opinion could change if ‘Bud’ impresses at light middleweight in his next fight.
“I think he’s a little big for Crawford,” he told Fight Hub.
“I’m not sure about that because Crawford does have punching power and is sharp, but I think Canelo showed tonight he’s pretty big.”
Jones Jr knows what it takes to be a champion at multiple weights.
During his Hall of Fame career, he has won titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight.
The 54-year-old advised Crawford to test himself against Charlo who still holds three of the four major titles in his natural weight class after suffering a second career defeat.
Jones Jr added: “I’d rather see Charlo fight Crawford first and see how that goes.
“If he does good against Charlo with the weight, then let’s see him come up and fight Canelo, yes, but not right now.
Before facing Canelo, Charlo, or anybody else, Crawford must first rematch Spence as he recently activated a contractual clause to trigger talks for a second scrap.
Negotiations between their respective teams are currently ongoing but are thought to have reached a stalemate on the issues of weight and fight date.
Crawford initially expressed a willingness to do the rematch at 154lbs but now appears intent on forcing Spence to make another unpleasant cut to 147lbs.
Either way, a resolution on Crawford vs Spence 2 is expected soon.