Canelo Alvarez reminded the media today that Terence Crawford has never fought an elite-level fighter during his career. When he faces Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for his undisputed super middleweight championship on September 13, it’ll be his first elite opponent.
Alvarez vs. Crawford will meet on Netflix at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Canelo, 35, says it’s a legacy fight for him and he’s taking it seriously.
Canelo’s Stinging Critique
“I just said facts. I didn’t say anything that was a lie. It’s facts. He may have faced good fighters, but there’s a difference between good fighters and elite fighters,” said Canelo Alvarez to Ring Magazine about his previous comments that Terence Crawford has never fought one elite fighter in his career.
Canelo makes a good point. Crawford has fought a lot of good fighters during his 17-year professional career, but none of them have been elite. The fighters that Crawford mentioned when Canelo criticized his lack of elite names were Viktor Postol and Ricky Burns.
Postol hadn’t fought any notable names before his clash against Crawford on July 23, 2016. After losing to him by a 12-round unanimous decision, he lost four out of his next five fights. Going up against Canelo will be Crawford’s first elite-level opponent, and he’s facing Saul late in his career. It’s not the prime Canelo that Gennadiy Golovkin first fought in 2017.
The September 13th Reckoning
“Two of the best pound-for-pound are going to face each other. Yeah, he’s going to find out on September 13th that it’s way different,” said Canelo about Crawford. “I think every fighter is looking for a knockout. If they say no, they’re lying.”
The way that Canelo is talking, he plans on putting Crawford in his place, sending him back to the 154-lb division after suffering his first career defeat. Crawford hasn’t said what his plans are after his fight with Canelo.
Returning to the junior middleweight division would be risky for Crawford and likely would involve a significant pay cut. He would be excellent to fight the top echelon fighters in the division, and that could be bad unless he raised his game from his debut at 154 against Israil Madrimov.
