Terence Crawford says the reason he didn’t ask for a catchweight for his fight against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez is that he wanted him to be without “any excuses” after he beats him on September 13th.
The question is, could Crawford, 37, have pressured Canelo into agreeing to fight him at catchweight? If Bud (41-0, 31 KOs) negotiated a catchweight below the 168-lb limit, Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) would have something to use to explain away the defeat.
Crawford’s No-Excuse Canelo Strategy
The chances are slim that Crawford would have been able to negotiate the weight down to 165 or 166, as Canelo is the bigger superstar, ‘The Face of Boxing,’ and the fight may not have taken place.
Alvarez would have refused, and Crawford would be stuck fighting the less popular but still dangerous fighters at 154.
Crawford’s Vulnerability at 154 lbs
As we saw in Terence’s last fight against Israil Madrimov, he’s vulnerable in this weight class, and it’s questionable whether he can beat the top fighters at his age, size, and with his inactivity issues. He’s out on weight, but he showed against Madrimov that he’s not as powerful in this division. Crawford’s performance against Madrimov was far less impressive than Vergil Ortiz Jr’s, which suggests that he’s not the same fighter he was at 147 and below.
“I don’t want any excuses. I don’t want any reasons [why Alvarez] doesn’t feel good going into the fight,” said Terence Crawford to Ring Magazine about why he didn’t ask for any weight stipulations in terms of a catchweight in negotiations with Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo is the favorite in this fight, and he’d have to have a really bad night for him to lose. Alvarez’s recent opponents, William Scull, Edgar Berlanga, and Jaime Munguia, have all been bigger and stronger than Crawford.
Crawford’s Canelo Negotiation Power
Crawford makes himself sound honorable by not asking for any weight stipulations against Canelo. Still, it’s probably more of a case of him not daring to push for something that would have ruined the negotiations. It’s not like Canelo wanted this fight. This is Turki Alalshikh’s idea. He wanted Canelo to fight Terence because he thinks highly of the Nebraska native.
