Canelo vs Terence Crawford has now been announced to take place in September this year, and it seems Canelo’s past views on Crawford may well play a part in how the fight goes.
Canelo vs Scull set the record for the fewest punches in a 12-round fight, and left fans disappointed. With mediocre opposition such as a past-his-best John Ryder, an unproven Edgar Berlanga, and a far smaller Jermell Charlo, fans have been craving the fireworks that came with Canelo‘s past outings for a while now.
Gone are the days of Canelo breaking Billy Joe Saunders’ face or dropping Caleb Plant in huge super-middleweight clashes, that is until now.
Terence Crawford, one of the pound-for-pound kings of boxing right now, will move up two weight divisions to challenge Canelo for his super-middleweight titles in what will be a must-see war of the elites, and, judging by an interview with Canelo years before the fight materialized, he won’t be taking it lightly.
Canelo described all the tools Terence Crawford has to beat a champion in interview years ago
Two years ago, 39-0 Crawford faced Errol Spence Jr. in a fight many believed would be a 50/50. The bout was for the undisputed welterweight titles, and went drastically different to how most imagined.
Crawford dropped Spence in rounds two and seven, and was vastly ahead on every scorecard going into the ninth round, where he produced a career-best performance as he stopped the Texan.
Spence hasn’t fought since the loss, but it was ahead of the fight that Canelo praised Crawford as he gave his prediction for the fight.
He told Fight Hub TV why he picked Crawford to win: “He has a lot of skills, power, I think he’s really a smart fighter.”
Canelo may now be hoping Crawford isn’t too smart or powerful, as he will go up against him later this year in what will be one of his most exciting fights of recent years.
Terence Crawford was one round away from a draw in his latest fight
For many, the fight between Crawford and Canelo is determined primarily by size. Canelo is far bigger than Crawford, who has only fought at super-welterweight once, and never at middleweight or super-middleweight.
In his lone super-welterweight encounter, Crawford, who lost to Sadam Ali as an amateur, challenged Israil Madrimov, in a fight that ended up being extremely close.
Though some believe Madrimov won, Crawford, who KO’d Amir Khan, got the nod with scores of 115-113, 115-113, 116-112.
If Madrimov had sealed just one more round, Crawford would’ve met the first opponent he couldn’t beat.