Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford have reportedly agreed to their long-talked-about mega-clash in September in Las Vegas. This is the fight that the former four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has been pushing for nonstop since moving up to 154.
Many fans view this as a cash grab with no competitive value. It wouldn’t be seen that way if Crawford showed some gumption by moving up to 168 and took on David Benavidez or David Morrell to prove himself.
Not surprisingly, he’s not shown any desire to mix it with those two sharks and will likely be weeded out of the Canelo fight. Hence, many fans will see the fight as a business-level match rather than a sporting one. In true sports, teams and players earn their way. Crawford isn’t doing that. The Canelo fight is being given to him on a silver platter.
Crawford’s Push Pays Off
The Ring revealed that the WBA junior middleweight champion Crawford and the unified three-belt super middleweight champ Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) have agreed to a fight in September.
Terence wanted this fight for what he says “legacy” purposes to show he’s the best, but fans suspect this is just his desire for retirement money. He’s an old clever fox, soon to be 38 on September 28, and he wants the mother load cash he can get from a fight against the superstar Alvarez.
Canelo, 34, is still expected to take a stay-busy fight in May on Cinco de Mayo, possibly against IBF 168-lb champion William Scull to recapture his belt with that organization. That would make Canelo the undisputed champion at super middleweight for the second time.
For fans who care about titles, this would make the mega-fight with Crawford bigger in some respects. Most people won’t care about the Canelo-Crawford clash having four belts instead of just three. They just want to see the two square off to prove who the best of the best is.
Crawford has yet to prove he’s the best at 154 pounds. He’s had one fight at junior middleweight and will move up two weight classes to challenge Canelo at 168.
It’s going to be difficult for the Nebraska native. Hopefully, he will come to fight and not mimic the Mayweather style that his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre said he would for the Canelo clash. If Crawford moves, jabs, and holds all night like Mayweather did to defeat Canelo in 2013, it could be a boring fight for the fans.
That’s Crawford’s only chance because he’s not powerful enough to hurt Canelo with his shots, and he won’t be able to take the huge shots he’ll be getting hit with if he mixes it up with the Mexican star.
