If you talk about Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and see what he has achieved-from the debut as a fifteen-year-old boy until now a thirty-five-year-old man-it’s easy to run at superlatives. The same goes for Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
The words legend, superstar, undisputed champion and pound-for-pound have been thrown around by boxing scribes for decades, but we rarely hear that fighters are described as special. Crawford and Alvarez are it; They are both extraordinary in what they have achieved in their lives as boxers.
Crawford started boxing at the local gym in Omaha, Nebraska. He campaigned in seventy competitions before becoming professional in 2008.
Alvarez’s Amateur Foundation
Alvarez comes from a fighting family and follows his brothers every day to the gym where he would watch them practice and save. He was thirteen when he started boxing in the amateurs. After forty-six competitions, Alvarez turned to fifteen years old in 2005.
In 2014, after detecting an impressive finish line of 22-0, Crawford traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to challenge the proud WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns. The durable champion was surpassed and exceeded when Crawford won his heart and his title and beat him on points to win his first world title.
Climb the sections
Good victories over Yuriorkis Gamboa and Raymundo have led Crawford to perform to fight Thomas Dulorme for the WBO lightweight title in Texas. Crawford bothered to win in the sixth round and become a two -weight world champion.
Crawford defended his light weight weight title, and then beat the tremendously tough Ukrainian boxer Victor Postol for the WBC lightweight title and the ring belt in 2016. After even more defense, he faced Julius Indongo for his WBC and WBO belts with the IBF title, and he beat him in the third round.
In 2018, Crawford performed to challenge Australian Brawler Jeff Horn for his newly desired WBO swelling title. Crawford took the champion apart and surpassed to win a world title in a third weight class.
Crawford against top contenders
Crawford beat Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Shawn Porter in great victories. It was now 2022, and the next time David Avanesyan. Crawford knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his WBO -Welterweight title, and this victory was an important role in protecting a mega fight with the United Welterweight Champion of the World, Errol Spence Jr. What went into battle had many insiders Spence as too big, too fast and too powerful for Crawford. I chose Crawford to dominate and control the battle – my view was that Spence went in as a damaged fighter. I thought Crawford would target Spence’s eye, and he hit the united champion on a pulp to become the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
After a year off, Crawford acted to challenge WBO junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov in 2024. Madrimov was a decorated amateur with 350 competitions under his belt and was unbeaten as a professional. The man of Uzbekistan was good school and hard like a rock.
Crawford covered well, counteracted Madrimov and won on the inside, but the champion fought with pride and determination to take Crawford the distance in a tremendous battle. Crawford won on all three scorecards to become a world champion in a fourth weight class. Terence Crawford is 41-0 with 31 food.
Alvarez’s first world title
Saul Alvarez won his first world title in his thirty-seven battle. He beat English fighter Matthew Hatton on points to claim the vacant WBC Junior Middle Weight Championship in 2011.
After winning over Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron, he was linked in 2012 to fight against Shane Mosley. Alvarez fought with patience and maturity against the dangerous and experienced Mosley, and he won on points in Las Vegas.
Look at Mayweather and beyond
After beating Josesito Lopez and Austin Trout and adding the WBA and Ring Junior Middleweight Belts, he adopted Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather was too good on the inside, too smart on the outside, and too fast for Alvarez and beat him on points in 2013.
Alvarez returned against the tough Alfredo Angulo in March 2014 and hit him in ten rounds and then fought Erislandy Lara in a closely disputed attack that he had won with a disputed split decision. Next was the mighty James Kirkland, but the pressure, speed and power of Alvarez was too much – to knock him out in the third round to fight a fight with Puerto Rican Great Miguel Cotto.
Cotto Clash and Khan upset
Alvarez and Cotto traded bumps for twelve tremendous rounds, but in the end the velocity, timing and punch variety were decisive. Alvarez counteracted Cotto with large right hands, uppercase and hard body shots to win with unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
In 2016, Alvarez Amir Khan accepts and is surpassed until he stepped into Khan’s jaw in the sixth round with a devastating right hand and knocked him cold. Alvarez then won the WBO junior middleweight title after breaking down the courageous Liam Smith and beating his body with a quick left split to take him out in the ninth round.
Chavez jr. And the Golovkin Duels
In 2017, Julio Cesar Chavez jr. (50-2-1) Next. Despite, testosterone, Mexican pride and bragging rights were the most important themes of this catching weight fight. Alvarez has the much larger Chavez jr. Taken apart and punished and took him the twelve rounds on Mexican Independence Day in Las Vegas.
Gennady Golovkin has terrorized the middleweight section for years, and a fight with Alvarez was profitable and inevitable. Their first match in September 2017 was declared a split draw – many call it a robbery. The Rematch came after a delay of twelve months, and Alvarez was declared the winner by the majority decision, claiming that the WBC, WBA and the middleweight championships were claimed from the world of the world.
Later career and title defense
From there, Alvarez beat Rocky Fielding at Super Middeeight and Daniel Jacobs in 2019. He then acted to light heavyweight to challenge Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title and Kovalev in the eleventh round stop.
After beating Callum Smith on points and defending his Super Middleweight titles, he beat Avni Yildirim in three rounds, destroyed Billy Joe Saunders in eight rounds and stopped Caleb plant in eleven rounds to finish as an undisputed champion.
Alvarez dares to return to light heavyweight to challenge Dmitri Biscell in May 2022. Biblical fought brilliantly to close the attack of Alvarez and retain his title.
Alvarez then returned to Las Vegas for the Trilogy battle with Golovkin during Super Middeeight, won by unanimous decision and the preservation of all major belts. He continued to defend his super -middleweight titles against John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jamie Munguia, Edgar Berlanga and William Scull.
On thirty-seven, after a sixty-seven fighting career, is Alvarez at the end? Of course he is not. He earned hundreds of millions by taking opponents apart, but it seems that his devastating power has decreased as the years went at the super -middle weight.
Comparative Analysis: Experience Vs Skill
Crawford will be thirty-eight on Fight Night, but had much fewer fights and much less wear and tear. He has achieved eleven victories since his Madrimov match, so he will be the fresh fighter.
Since 2021, Crawford has fought five times with four wins. Alvarez fought ten times, and seven of the fights waived.
There is a lot of talk of insider box people who say Crawford will be too small for super -middle weight. This is absolute nonsense. Alvarez is 5’8 ″ with a wingspan of 70.5 ″; Crawford is 5’8 ″ with a wingspan of 74.0 ″.
This battle is about who can better adapt to the man standing in front of them. Experience is with Alvarez. Skill is at Crawford.
The battle
Alvarez and Crawford have been fighting and practicing for years. Who is the fighter with the least wear and tear? Crawford achieves 31 wins and has been a dominant power since 2008. Alvarez has 39 wins, but his last TKO was on Super Middeeight in 2021. Will Crawford increase its power divisions? Probably not.
To win, Crawford must box and move and stay some of the ropes. The stitch is the key – use its stitch and double on it. Crawford has rhythm, balance and movement, and he can easily switch from Southpaw to Orthodox. He is the superior boxer, and he can hit. Can he hurt Alvarez? Yes. Can he stop alvarez? No.
Alvarez is a pressure fighter – a fantastic machine, a sharp shooter. Will he take advantage of Crawford’s sluggish starting tactics? Can he Outbox Crawford? The answer is no. Will Crawford get him in the battle old and tired? Yes.
Crawford through unanimous decision in this fight for champions.
About Gary Todd
Gary Todd is an international best-selling writer. He has been involved in all aspects of the boxing sports for decades. Look out for his latest book – coming October 2025.
Last updated on 06/30/2025
