Paulie Malignaggi believes Terence Crawford has a good chance of beating the United Super Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez in their fight in September. He says he initially didn’t think Crawford (41-0, 31 food) could win because he was ‘too small’, but he felt that Canelo (62-2-2, 39 COs) was no longer in his lead.
Malignaggi says Crawford has a fighting style similar to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he feels that Canelo gave up when he lost him in 2013. The Mexican star is much stronger than it was at the time, and there will not be a catch to weaken him as there was.
Crawford’s hunger
Paulie says Crawford is hungry and gives him a good chance to defeat Canelo. Obviously, he’s not so hungry to put a good year since his last fight. Crawford may have been afraid to fight for fear of one of the junior middle weights, and then his big payday against Canelo disappears. Terence did not want to test himself at 168, which is understandable if he was worried.
“I originally thought Crawford was too small. I think Crawford was a more complete fighter than Canelo ever was. It is not out of the question (that Terence wins), ”Paulie Malignaggi said Fighting typeDiscuss the Canelo Alvarez against Terence Crawford, which is expected to take place in September.
Crawford may be too small to stay in the bag, and fight Canelo as he should have a chance to win. He looked weak in his debut on 154 against Israil Madrimov, and was stuck throughout the much stronger WBA champion. It is not good for Crawford to set up two divisions to stare an even more powerful Canelo.
Canelo’s decline
‘This Canelo is not the prime Canelo. This Canelo tries to steal bags while it is half-a ***** it, ”says Malignaggi. “If Canelo was placed in difficult situations where he had to throw, what did he do? He has not really dug and broke in fights where he lost. ‘
“He just accepted the loss. We have seen that against Floyd (Mayweather Jr.) also (as well as against Dmitri Biblical). He never really took a risk in the Floyd battle when he was surpassed. He just accepted it. Since (the Biblical battle) he has dropped the level of his opposition tremendously, ”Paulie said of Canelo.
You can give Canelo a pace for his losses to Mayweather and Biblical, because he was in a difficult position. When he fought against the still first version of Mayweather in 2013, he was only 22 years old. He made things worse for himself by agreeing to a catch of 152 pounds. At the weigh -in, Canelo drained and had to sit down to collect himself. He didn’t look good.
“He (Crawford) is a man who reminds me of Floyd and is hungry, motivated and wants to be the best,” Malingaggi said. “He has that common line in the ring. Crawford wants to go for that spirit. This does not mean that Crawford wins because he is small. I believe more now that Crawford can win than what was first talked about. “
You can’t say that Crawford wants to fight the best, because he has shown no interest in fighting any of the other guys at 154 since his fight with Madrimov. It shows that he realizes that he has reached his boundaries, and if he fought the other top fighters, he knows he would lose. So you can’t say that he always wants to reach the ‘Gusto’ because his resume is too weak to prove it. Crawford has only victories over Errol Spence and Madrimov to prove that he has been fighting the best.
He did not want to move to 168 to test himself. If Terence really believed in himself, he would have done it. Crawford knows his limits, and just wants the payday against Canelo rather than testing himself.
“I would very much like to see Crawford win, because if Canelo gets this payday, which is going to be a big payday,” says Maligaggi. “If he also takes the victory out of it, it is too much reward for packing benevidez and allowing the compulsory contender and keeping all the belts as long as hostage and not allowing the weight class to manage his course as it should.”
Legacy or payday?
If you look at it from a neutral point of view without anger with any fighter, it seems that Crawford is not going to win because of his experience at 168, a lack of power and age. He can also take this struggle for all the wrong reasons by moving on to fight Canelo for the payday, not for his legacy.
Crawford says he did it for heritage purposes, but it sounds like Hogwash. If he did this, he would have moved up and one of the top contenders like David Benavidez, David Morrell or Diego Pacheco. It’s more about money.
“I think Crawford is for the benefit of boxing because he has done his career in the right way by trying to chase the best. I feel that he is constantly testing himself. That Madrimov fight was very impressive. Madrimov is a very good fighter. That fight was neck and neck. It could have been a draw. It was a high chess.
‘To be able to keep the concentration in your mid-thirties against this young, high IQ fighter with explosive and of course greater fighter was impressive to me. He (Crawford) may be too small for Canelo, but he is definitely nowhere near the ability Crawford is.
“He may be better than Canelo from the right -handed attitude, and that’s not his attitude. Crawford is mainly a Southpaw. Crawford is more versatile in one attitude than Canelo is, but is he too small? One thing I noticed in the Madrimov fight is that Crawford had to give more land than he usually does. Canelo, in the Golovkin Rematch, he presses. One thing that Canelo does well is that he cuts off the ring well. Can you take away the spacing of the smaller guy (Crawford) because he will need spacing because he is so much smaller. I don’t know, ”Maligaggi said.
Last updated on 03/15/2025
