Promoter Bob Arum says he is not counting out his former fighter Terence Crawford in a title challenge against WBA/VBC/WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez if they meet in a 12-round mega-fight this September.
The threat of hitting the switch
Arum believes that Crawford’s (37-year-old, 39 KOs) ability to switch strikes will upset Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs), just like Errol Spence did when they fought in 2023. Errol was better than Crawford , looking sluggish, exhausted and nowhere near the fighter he was in 2018.
Crawford’s southpaw against Canelo is unlikely to faze the Mexican star as he has fought many left-handed fighters and never had a problem with them. If Bud turns into a southpaw, it won’t affect the fight other than he’ll land heavy punches while in another stance.
The real issue that Arum doesn’t mention is that Crawford is too old, small and weak to fight at 168. He’s probably hoping to bulk up 14 pounds and repeat what Floyd Mayweather Jr. did against the then-22-year-old Canelo in 2013 .
If Mayweather and Canelo fought now, the version of Floyd who fought Canelo would be knocked out. Alvarez is now much stronger and more experienced, and would never settle for 152 lbs. Floyd just threw punches, one right hand, held and moved all night.
That style wouldn’t work now because Canelo would land the harder punches and be seen as the aggressor, forcing Floyd to run. Crawford will do the same because he is too old and weak to stand and trade with Canelo. Just so you know, Terence turns 38 in September.
“I wouldn’t count Crawford out in any fight because he has a unique talent; he’s a great boxer-puncher, and he’s completely ambidextrous,” Bob Arum said Fighthippe when asked about Terence Crawford’s chances against Canelo Alvarez.
“He drives his opponent crazy because they train to fight a southpaw, and he ends up fighting a southpaw.” That’s what happened to Errol (when he fought Crawford on June 29, 2023). Spence trained as a right-handed fighter and all he saw was a southpaw fighter.
“I think what Crawford is looking for is Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya,” Arum said of what kind of upset Terence is looking for against Canelo.
No Catchweight
It was a different situation when Oscar De La Hoya fought Manny Pacquiao in 2008. Up until that point in his career, De La Hoya was a washed-up part-time fighter, fighting in the junior middleweight division. He agreed to face Pacquiao at 145 and then dieted to lose too much weight. He looked terrible, gaining weight, and it showed in the fight.
Canelo wouldn’t diet or cut weight for Crawford, and he’s not a fighter who’s out of his depth like Oscar was. If Crawford thinks Canelo will be another De La Hoya, he’s wrong. They are two different people.
Canelo remains fit and won’t agree to hand Budo a bantamweight handicap like De La Hoya did with Pacquiao. Oscar never should have done that because he was the ‘Golden Boy’, the superstar in that fight, and he could have insisted that Pacquiao move up to 154 to fight him. It was a strange situation where De La Hoya leaned back to give Manio a better chance to equalise. With that, he weakened himself and lost.
