IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Tony Bellew Pinpoints How Terence Crawford Will Beat Canelo Alvarez

Originally posted on KO on SI | By Apratim Banerjee | Last updated May 22, 2025 9:36 AM ET

The location for Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford is yet to be announced. Turki Alalshikh recently decided to postpone the clash a day after initially making it official for September 12th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The buzz surrounding the contest, though, keeps rising. After all, it's a once in a lifetime clash between two modern day greats. At 63-2-2, Alvarez is one of his kind and is the reigning undisputed super middleweight king.

41-0-0 Terence Crawford is moving up two weight classes to challenge the Mexican, with his last fight taking place at 154 lbs against Israil Madrimov. Crawford's jump in weight has come under scrutiny as some believe Canelo Alvarez's power might be too much for him to handle.

Tony Bellew, though, is seeing the contest from a different lens. He believes Alvarez will want to start the fight slowly and set the pace, but Crawford won't let him do it. Canelo had a questionable performance in his most recent win against William Scull on May 3, as the entire fight lacked action.

Speaking to Cardplayer, Bellew said:

Of course, with age, everyone gets a little bit slower, the reflexes. He’s an exceptional fighter, Canelo. But the way that everyone would think is. Weight classes exist for a reason and they’re thinking Bud’s going up too much. Bud’s actually big. Terence Crawford’s a big dude. I’ve been around him. I know. And he’s a brilliant fighter, technically very adaptive. He can do it all, he has got power.

Bellew brought up Crawford's sensational win against Errol Spence Jr in 2023. He thinks Spence is like a modern day Marvin Hagler, but Crawford made him look like a mere mortal. 'Bud' knocked Spence down three times before stopping him in the ninth in a grueling display.

Further breaking down Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford, Bellew said:

Canelo likes to wait. It has to be all at Canelo’s rate and pace. He’s not gonna get that way with Terence Crawford. I just think Crawford will outwork him and will potshot him. And I think he will win on points. I get why Canelo is the favorite, but all good things come to an end. And by the way, if I’m wrong and Canelo does defeat Terence, and he’s the first man to beat him, he deserves so much credit. I will give him all the credit in the world because no one’s been able to figure out Terence Crawford yet.