The only sales pitch
There was no scoring controversy. No robbery story. No contested knockdowns. Crawford won cleanly. The only sticking point for a sequel is whether or not fans believe Canelo fought below his true capacity. This is where it gets tricky.
The version of Canelo struggling with pace and foot speed against Crawford didn’t appear out of nowhere. In his previous fights against Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga and William Scull, similar signs were visible. He controlled those fights and won them, but the urgency was measured, and the legs didn’t seem explosive. The response time was not what it once was.
He could get through those nights without being pushed the way Crawford pushed him.
So when Canelo says that the first fight was compromised by cramps and fatigue, fans have to decide what to believe. Was it a physical malfunction of one night, or was it the same gradual erosion that showed up more than once?
Boxing fans are used to hearing explanations after a loss. Injuries happen. Bad nights happen. Aging also happens. It rarely comes all at once. It shows in small moments. Half a step slower. A knock late on the counter. Lose a round because the legs don’t fire.
The rematch revolves around whether people believe him. If fans think he fought well below his best, they can imagine it will play out differently next time. If they think that version is simply who he is now, there is no mystery left. It just feels like going over the same ground again.
This is the real obstacle. Convincing people that the first fight wasn’t the real version is the hard part.
