If unbeaten challenger Terence Crawford is to defeat Canelo Alvarez this weekend, he must make use of four key attributes in his locker, according to an analyst mainstay.
Making his first outing since the summer of last year, former two-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford will make his super middleweight debut against Canelo Alvarez, with the Mexican star’s undisputed belt up for grabs.
And hoping to prove boxing historians wrong with his move to 168lbs in a bid to defeat the bigger man, former lightweight champion Crawford has split opinion so far in the build-up to his title charge.
However, the Nebraska native has received backing from an analyst who has seen it all throughout the years in the ring.
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Adam Smith reveals tools Terence Crawford must use against Canelo Alvarez
Joining a laundry list of names to predict Canelo’s fight with Crawford, veteran British commentator Adam Smith is so far siding with the challenger to overcome the odds and snatch super middleweight supremacy.
And as far as Smith is concerned, the ‘Voice of Boxing’ has listed four main skills Crawford possesses in his gleaming arsenal which he must display in order to take Canelo’s unbeaten record at the super middleweight limit.
“I think Canelo (Alvarez) is approaching 70-fights, he’s been beaten before,” Smith told Boxing News. “(Terence) Crawford remains undefeated. I think the jump up [in weight] is big, but I think he’s got the speed, the IQ, the experience, the know-how, to be able to handle it.
“If he’s switched on for every minute of every round, I think he wins,” Smith said of Crawford. “And I think he announces himself to the world on Netflix. And I think he deserves it. I think Terence Crawford only been really known to the trade fans. …I fancy Crawford in this fight.”
And the pre-fight prediction from Smith comes hot on the heels of a recent claim from another British boxing star, who claimed a blueprint to beat Canelo is already available to Crawford.
Eddie Hearn reveals how Terence Crawford could defeat Canelo Alvarez
Suffering just a pair of losses during his decorated career, Canelo came unstuck in decision losses to the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather and undisputed light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
And as far as Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is concerned, however, while he considers Canelo a close friend — a blueprint to defeat him is already on offer to Crawford before fight night.
““Right now, my head is just leading with (Terence) Crawford, slightly,” Hearn told The Stomping Ground. “…It’s tough to call at this stage of their careers, because they are old. And I don’t know — it’s like who’s getting older quicker.
“He (Canelo) has a tendency to not be (sic) that aggressive,” Hearn continued. “And I think if he’s not aggressive against Crawford, and Crawford can control the fight and use angles, and fight in spurts like (Dmitry) Bivol did, then I think he’s got a great chance.”