Canelo Alvarez Says His Mind Wasn’t on Terence Crawford

The former undisputed champion says distractions during fight week, not Terence Crawford’s performance, led to his September defeat.

Canelo Alvarez says his loss to Terence Crawford was caused by his own lack of focus rather than anything unexpected from his opponent. Nearly a year after the fight, Alvarez revealed that distractions during fight week left him mentally unprepared despite completing what he described as an ideal training camp.

“I know what I did bad, not bad but wrong. I did everything good in the training camp, but my mind wasn’t there. I feel like I wasn’t there, thinking about other things,” said Canelo to Ariel Helwani about his preparation for the Crawford fight in September 2025.

Alvarez explained that several issues during fight week distracted him from boxing, making it impossible to perform at his best despite being in excellent physical condition.

“A lot of things happened in the fight week, so sometimes we are not focused on the fight, focused on boxing. Like I say, I did everything good in the camp. I always train very hard, but not just that. You can be physically ready, but if your mind is not there, it’s not the same,” said Canelo.

Many observers praised Crawford for climbing multiple weight classes to defeat the undisputed super middleweight champion, yet Canelo rejected the idea that his opponent exceeded expectations.

“No, he wasn’t better than I thought he’d be. He’s a good fighter. I never doubted how good he is. He is a very good fighter, he’s very intelligent, he has everything. Nothing impressed me because I knew how talented he was,” said Canelo about Crawford.

Alvarez also admitted he was caught off guard when Crawford announced his retirement. More than anything, he wanted another opportunity to erase the defeat.

“Yeah, I’m surprised because as a fighter, we want a rematch, right? We want to show again. And I always did good in my rematches. It surprised me a lot, but it is what it is. It’s his life, it’s his career, and I can do nothing with that,” said Canelo.

“I still hope the rematch can happen. If not, it’s fine, we need to move forward.”

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