Why Crawford’s “best” won’t be enough against Canelo

Terence Crawford posted the obligatory “I’m going to shock the world” message on X today regarding his fight against unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez at a yet-to-be-announced date in September.

Shock the world? Doubtful

Crawford is in his Edgar Berlanga momentto get a massive payday he doesn’t rate against Canelo at 168 and talks gibberish to make fans believe he has a chance in this fight. We all know Terence is going to box and pull because he is too small and old to slug. Crawford is obviously thinking about all that cash he’s going to get for this fight, so he’s in a happy, chattering frame of mind. He just won the lottery.

He’s probably so happy for that payday. Without this gift fight Turki Al-Sheikh gave him, Crawford would have run away at 154, faced with real sharks like Bakhram Murtazaliev, Serhii Bohachuk, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Sebastian Fundora.

This is not a car crash accident, ring rust, sluggish Errol Spence fighting Crawford. Canelo is still an active fighter and highly dangerous. Canelo is like an M93 Hornet landmine and will blow up on the Nebraska native if he gets any ideas.

Most likely, Crawford will go along with his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre’s plan to use movement and follow Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol’s blueprint against Canelo.

Exposed and overrated

The soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford says he hides his best in his “back pocket this whole time.” It’s a little hard to believe after watching him eat right hands from Israil Madrimov last August and come close to losing to him in his debut at 154. Terence just looked old, small and weak in that fight.

“I don’t think it’s a fight that Canelo really wants, to be honest, because I think he feels he won’t get a lot of credit for beating a light middleweight, and Crawford is going to move a lot in that fight, which is not ideal for Canelo,” said Eddie Hearn Fight Hub TVreacts to the news of Canelo Alvarez fighting Terence Crawford in September.

“What are his (Canelo’s) options? If (Dmitry) Bivol wins (against Artur Beterbiev on February 22), he can fight for undisputed. It’s going to be a very tough fight. Benavidez is at 175. Clearly His Excellency wants to make that fight. So, I think we can see that next,” Hearn said of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight.

I’m shocking the world!!! The best is yet to come. I had it in my back pocket the whole time.

— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) January 13, 2025