Will Power Decide Canelo Vs. Crawford?

Trainer Bob Santos is backing Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) to defeat Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) in their September 13 Undisputed Super Middleweight fight, citing Canelo’s advantage in size and power.

Crawford moves up two weight classes to try and become a three-weight undisputed champion. Crawford, who is 37, secured an unconvincing victory over Israil Madrimov last August in his first fight at 154 pounds. Bud has also not proven himself in the super middleweight division against a top contender like Christian Mbilli. Crawford’s recent inactivity could also be an issue, while Alvarez has not lost at 168 pounds. Santos backed Canelo to be too much. 

“I’m going with Canelo. I think they’re both great fighters. Terence obviously has earned the right. Would it shock me if he were to pull off an upset? No. But gun to my head, I’ve got to go with Canelo, the bigger, stronger guy, who has been at the weight class for a much longer period of time,” Santos said 

The Bout

Nevertheless, that is not how Shakur Stevenson sees the fight playing out. Shakur talked up Crawford’s power, stating that it will carry up the weight classes. Prior to his debut at 154 pounds, Crawford had knocked out all of his opponents at 147. His last knockout was against Errol Spence, when Crawford dropped the much bigger man three times on his way to stopping him in the ninth round. Crawford does not have to look for the knockout, but have enough power to keep Canelo at bay and punish him when the Mexican gets close. That is how Mayweather and Bivol managed to outsmart the Mexican. 

“Bud’ is ready. ‘Bud’ is always going to come in there, 100%. And he’s going to be on top of his game. He’s going to be sharp, fast, strong. That’s the thing that is going to surprise a lot of people with this fight. Bud’s power carries up. It’s not just power that was there for 147 or 140. That’s the biggest thing that is going to surprise everybody,” Shakur stated