By: Sean Crose
Ring Magazine reports that a hoped for dream fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford is about to become a reality. The bout is said to be going down in Las Vegas as a Riyadh Season event in September. Not all that long ago, the bout was considered nothing more than a fan fantasy, as Canelo generally fights as a super middleweight these days while Crawford has only recently stepped up to the junior middleweight division. Yet Crawford, as boxing fans know, is a generational talent. If anyone can jump up in weight to beat the face of contemporary boxing, it’s the fighter known as Bud.
Still, this is going to be no easy task for Crawford. Canelo is bigger, yes, but he’s more than just a big man. Like Crawford, Canelo is one of the biggest powerhouses in boxing – and has been for years. Although he may be going through a slight decline, the red haired Mexican legend is a ferocious competitor, as strong as he is confident. Just how good is Canelo? Good enough that he’s only lost twice in a very lengthy career. And those losses came to future Hall of Famers Floyd Maweather and Dmitry Bivol respectively.
Crawford, on the other hand, has lost to absolutely no one. His biggest fight was a nine round destruction of Errol Spence back in 2023. Before that he bested the likes of Shawn Porter, Kell Brook and Viktol Postal – strong titlists all. And while he’s certainly not the same natural size as Canelo, the physical differences might not be as stark as they at first appear. In fact, Canelo is marked as being about half an inch SHORTER than Crawford. The interesting question now is what catchweight the men will fight at (there’s certainly going to be a catchweight)?
The truth is that, strong and hard hitting as he is, Canelo can’t weight drain himself too seriously before entering the ring with Crawford. Even if he rehydrates in between weigh in and fight time, Canelo would risk giving Crawford the edge. As for Crawford, it’s worth wondering how far he’s willing to go up on the scale. Indeed, he wants to maintain some power and fluidity against the likes of Canelo. These questions, however, appear to be on the verge of being answered. Provided the contract will be signed – and it certainly looks like it will be – fans will be treated to one of the odder ring pairings in years outside of the ridiculous novelty fights that are currently popular.
At least this time it will be two of the best putting it on the line rather than ring and octagon greats whose best days are obviously behind them.
