You can add Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum’s name to the growing list of people who are far from impressed or excited by the current version of Canelo Alvarez, or the recent version. Oscar De La Hoya has ripped into Canelo, this even before the Mexican’s awful fight with William Scull (who of course has to take the lion’s share of the blame for how boring the May 3 fight was, but Canelo has also taken some hits for not being able to cut the ring off on Scull, and for failing to throw anything like enough punches), with the Golden Boy head saying Canelo is boring and that his upcoming fight with Terence Crawford will be boring.
Now, Arum, speaking with Fight Hub TV, has stated that there is no way he would pay money to watch the upcoming Canelo-Crawford fight. In addition, Arum says Canelo “is not in there to entertain the public, he just takes the big cheque.”
Arum says Canelo’s just cashing checks, not fighting for fans
Arum says Canelo is now a businessman more so than a fighter.
“If they are each gonna fight, really fight, I think it’s terrific. It’s very interesting. But, again, if I had to pay money to watch that fight, I wouldn’t do it, because Canelo has shown in his last few fights that he’s just a businessman. He’s not in there to entertain the public, he just takes the big cheque,” Arum said when asked what he thinks about the Canelo-Crawford fight. “But if Canelo really fights – because I think it’s safe to say Terence always fights, he doesn’t know anything else – then it could be a very good, interesting fight. Who is Canelo? What Canelo is going to show up? The Canelo who’s looking to cash a big cheque, or the Canelo that really wants to fight? The Canelo we’ve seen the last two years is not only boring, but he doesn’t have an incentive to mix it up and entertain people with a good fight.”
Arum backs Crawford to save the night while questioning Canelo’s motivation
It sure seems as though Arum is fearful of a stinker in September when Canelo and Crawford fight. If the fight is to be saved from being a dud, it will be Crawford who does the job in Arum’s opinion – “he’s never been that way, to his credit” the Top Rank boss said of Crawford as far as him ever failing to fight hard, with him instead just picking up the money.
“Terence Crawford is a real, old-school professional fighter who wants to do his best in every fight that he’s in,” Arum stated.
It’s clear who Arum has faith in when it comes to these two pound-for-pound fighters, and it’s clear who Arum has far more respect for out of the two. Is Arum right, will it be “Bud” who makes the September fight one worth watching, with no help from Canelo unless, by some chance, the Canelo of 2022 or before shows up?
Canelo’s reputation cannot afford another snoozefest like the Scull fight, nor can the sport in general afford such a high-profile disaster. Let’s hope Crawford makes Canelo fight and revert back to the approach and attitude he had before he became a “businessman.”
