Dmitry Bivol says Terence Crawford will need to prove that he can take the punches from undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on September 13th. All the sparring and the mental focus the former four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has won’t help him if he can’t handle Alvarez’s power.
Bivol’s Advice for Crawford
“We can’t just say mentality and sparring partners to get used to this weight. This is the combination of all,” said Dmitry Bivol to the Ring Magazine channel, talking about what Terence Crawford must do to be able to beat the bigger Canelo Alvarez.
Bivol is speaking the obvious. Why didn’t Crawford get his feet wet first in the 168-lb division before fighting for a world title against Canelo? I mean, Terence was already given an immediate title shot in his last fight, making his debut at 154 against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov last August.
Now, Crawford is getting another straight title shot, moving up two weight classes to 168 against Alvarez. All Bivol can talk about are general terms, like “mentality” and “sparring partners.”
Crawford’s Power Test Awaits
“He [Terence] needs to spar with bigger guys. He needs to have the [power] in his punches. He needs to be confident that he’s okay with his punches. He needs to be confident he can go into the ring and take Canelo’s punches, and he will be okay with it,” said Bivol.
It’s asking a lot of the 38-ish Crawford to be able to prove that he’s going to be able to take the shots from Canelo when he’s never fought at 168.
Moving up two weight classes with no tune-up in the super middleweight division, and being given the red carpet treatment by Turki Alalshikh to get an immediate world title shot against undisputed champion Canelo, it’s asking for trouble. It’s breaking all the typical customs of the sport that Bud is doing. Turki should have recognized this and had Crawford prove himself by facing the #1 ranked Christian Mbilli.