Commentator Max Kellerman sees the Canelo Alvarez against Terence Crawford match on September 13, similar to the clash of the United Middleweight Champion, Marvin Hagler and former lightweight Robert Duran.
Kellerman’s Canelo-Crawford, Hagler-Duran equation
Over the years, Duran moved through the weight classes from 135 to 154 before challenging Hagler on November 10, 1983 for his IBF and WBC middleweight titles. Duran gave Hagler a difficult time to lose a unanimous 15-round decision with the scores 144-142, 144-143 and 146-145.
Duran’s career was never the same after that fight. He was wiped out in his next competition, wiped out in two rounds and still lost to good opposition. Although it is a nice story that gave Duran Hagler a difficult time, he was not the same fighter after the fight.
Crawford’s age, last battle speeches
Can we see the same thing happening to 37-year-old Crawford? He is even older than the then 32-year-old Duran when he fought against Hagler, and he looked terrible in his last fight against Israel Madrimov.
“He (Hagler) was the man at the middleweight, just as Canelo is the man at the super middle weight. He is the (four belt undisputed) champion,” Max Kellerman told Ring Magazine XCompare the Hagler vs. Duran fight with the Canelo against Crawford competition. “And Duran went from junior middleweight to middleweight, but he started with lightweight (correction: Duran started at Super Featherweight) just like Crawford.”
Hagler’s pre-Duran CV investigated
What Kellerman overlooks is that Hagler did not face many fighters at high level during his career before fighting Duran. Marvin was the IBF and WBC middleweight champion at the time, but his resume was filled with numerous European and gatekeeper fighters. Hagler was held by Vito Antuofermo, a fighter who lost twice against Alan Minter.
The other victories on Hagler’s resume were a mixture of B and C-level fighters. There were no fighters at A-level or elite level that Marvin fought before facing Duran. As such, it was no surprise that he struggled to beat the smaller, weaker and older Roberto.
“I thought,” Hagler is going to kill him. He is too big. “The fight was nip and went all the way, and Hagler had to work out in the 15th round to make a decision,” Kellerman says.
Kellerman’s naive Hagler exceeded
As Max points out, He was just a child When he looked at the fight; Therefore, he bridged Hagler naive, not old enough to investigate his resume to know that he was mostly ham and eggers and not the talented cream of the crop level fights. Older fans who followed the sport at the time admitted that Hagler could lose because he finally faced a fighter at the elite level, although a much smaller, weaker one.
“This is the kind of fight I see here,” Kellerman said of the Canelo against Crawford competition. “I think it’s going to be a very competitive battle.
Last updated on 06/28/2025