Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Almost Didn’t Happen

Talking to Andre Ward on The Art of Ward, Crawford opened up about the time when Riyadh Season boss, Turki Alalshikh, was unsure about the prospect of even putting the fight together.

“Turki, he didn’t want the fight at first because he was just like, ‘The size difference.’ You know?” he said. “Same thing like everybody else, the size difference. He was like, ‘Eh, you can fight somebody else at a smaller weight class, and it would be safer for you. I don’t think you should move up two weight classes and fight him.’”

While Alalshikh was ultimately responsible for bringing the fight to fruition, his concerns were shared by many members of the boxing fraternity and fans alike. Both fighters weighed in at 167.5 lbs for the fight. However, Canelo has campaigned for years at 168 lbs. (and even 175 lbs.), while Crawford’s entire career was at much lower weights and moving up to junior middleweight. That meant there was at least a 14-lb natural gap between the two.

Moreover, Alalshikh was eyeing competitive legacy fights. The idea of Crawford jumping two divisions straight into super middleweight against the division’s undisputed champ also raised concerns about it potentially looking like a mismatch rather than a true super fight.

Crawford, on the other hand, remained adamant about the prospect of fighting Alvarez.

“And I’m like, ‘Nah, that’s who I want. I don’t want nobody else. That’s why I want.’ I said, ‘Who else is there to fight? So, he was just like, ‘Ah, we can fight somebody else.’ And I was like, ‘No. That’s why I want.’ And he was like, ‘Okay,’” he said.

“I Don’t Know What I’m Gonna Do”

With a sensational victory under his belt, boxing aficionados have their eyes peeled in anticipation of what Crawford might have in store for the future. With talks about his potential retirement looming around, he revealed that his future plans are up in the air for the time being.

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. Like I said, everything is up in the air right now. I’m just enjoying my family, enjoying being able to say, ‘Look what I accomplished.’ I’m just chilling, right now, I haven’t even got the time to sit down with my team and talk with them,” he said during the same episode. “I talked with my family. I know what my family want. But you know, it’s a team effort.”