Terence Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre says the game plan they will use to defeat superstar Canelo Alvarez is to make him move and box him for 12 rounds. He says it will be a “easier” Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) fights as his last one against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.
Mayweather-esque tactics
Trainer BoMac wants this to be a tactical fight, keeping Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) constantly on the move to prevent him from going full force on his punches. In other words, it would be a boring fight like Crawford’s match with Madrimov, who was booed by fans at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Crawford took no chances in the fight after tasting Madrimov’s power early on and played it safe to win a close 12-round decision.
BoMac says he’s unsure if Crawford (36) will fight again if he can’t get the Canelo fight. He wants that one for “legacy” purposes. If the fight doesn’t happen, Crawford’s fight against Madrimov will have been his last, and he will have to live with that performance.
It wasn’t a great one, but it shows that Crawford was never as good as fans thought. Let’s be real. He beat a bunch of older and lesser fighters, and the only real name on his resume was Errol Spence, who was nowhere near the fighter he once was after his horrific car accident in 2019.
“Canelo is standing in front of you. It will be easier to box him (than Israil Madrimov). I wouldn’t even think about power. Just box him and add up the points as the rounds go by,” Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre tells the Luke Thomas YouTube channel about how his fighter, Terence Crawford, would fight Canelo Alvarez.
“Use some side-to-side movement and try to get him to move his (Canelo’s) feet so he won’t be set when he gets ready to punch. You have to fight on your toes with the side-to-side movement,” BoMac said of how Crawford should fight Canelo.
BoMac spells out how Crawford will fight Canelo: He will use the Mayweather blueprint by making it boring. It won’t even be worth watching for fans, especially if they have to pay a lot to see it on PPV.
Canelo’s options: bigger and better fights at 175
It will be more entertaining for fans to see Canelo move up to 175 to face the winner of the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol undisputed light heavyweight clash. Can you imagine what a fight between Canelo and undefeated knockout artist Beterbiev would look like?
It would be very exciting as Beterbiev would try to knock out Canelo, a pure slug fest. It wouldn’t be a tactical fight like it would have been if Canelo had fought Crawford.
“So guys, you’ve got to get them to move their feet. Get them to come to you a little bit. The guy who beat him, Bivol. Just like that. Box him,” BoMac said, giving an example of a fighter who had success boxing Canelo with movement. “He moved a little. He made Canelo move his feet.
“He mentioned it a few times. Let the dust settle a little bit and see where he’s at after a few months have passed,” BoMac said when asked about Crawford possibly never fighting again unless he can get the Canelo fight. It’s the only one he wants.
Method to boost Crawford’s appeal
It sounds like we’ve seen the last of Crawford as the Canelo fight doesn’t look like it will happen. If Omaha, Nebraska native Crawford wanted to increase his chances of landing the Canelo golden parachute, he would step up to the plate and fight one of these killers:
- Vergil Ortiz Jr.
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr.
- Sebastian Fundora
- Tim Tszyu
- Serhii Bohachuk
Staying out of the ring, holding out for the Canelo payoff fight to fall into disrepair, will hurt Crawford’s popularity, such as it is. The reality is that Crawford is not a PPV draw in the US, as the casual boxing fans don’t know who he is, and those who do hate his safety-first fighting style. He has a lot of Shakur Stevenson in him with the way he fights, and that’s not what the boxing demographic in the US is interested in seeing or paying for.
“He told me the same thing he told the world. “This is the fight I want (Canelo). I want to put a stamp on my legacy, and I want to go out on top,’” BoMac said of Crawford, saying he only wants Canelo and no one else.
Unless His Excellency Turki Alalshikh can make it worthwhile for Canelo to fight the seemingly desperate and spoiled Crawford, that fight won’t happen. However, it doesn’t look like that will be the case as Canelo wants $150 million smackers for that bout, which could be out of Turki’s price range.
Crawford’s last fight against Madrimov reaffirmed that he is no match and will not help Canelo bring in the PPV buys. It would just be Canelo bringing the fans in, with Crawford, who is useless and dead weight, coming along for the ride.
Canelo can fight anyone and bring in buys. He doesn’t need to fight a guy who will bore the crowd by running all night like Crawford.
