Terence Crawford will dare to be great as he is set to move up and face Canelo Alvarez later this year.
Terence Crawford has built an extremely impressive record of 41-0 with 31 knockouts, most recently defeating Israil Madrimov for the WBO interim super-welterweight title.
Crawford, Floyd Mayweather’s P4P Number 1, is now a four-weight world champion, but many think he’s bitten off more than he can chew agreeing to fight Canelo.
What is certain is that if the Omaha man is to win, he needs the best preparation possible, including sparring partners.
Terence Crawford appoints 19-0 KO artist to assist with Canelo preparation
Crawford, who stopped David Benavidez’s brother, has enlisted the help of super middleweight stablemate Lester Martinez ahead of his fight with Canelo.
The 19-0 Guatemalan has 16 wins by stoppage, and his last outing saw him stop 9-0-2 Joeshon James in just four rounds under the guidance of Crawford’s longtime trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre.
His last win before that was a unanimous decision over former IBO title holder Carlos Gongora, who has only lost to Christian Mbilli and Lerrone Richards before.
Martinez bears the size, skill, and aggression to push Crawford, who beat Jeff Horn – Pacquiao’s most controversial rival, and has all the makings of the perfect sparring partner ahead of the Canelo clash.
“Lookin killer”… Fans react to Lester Martinez’s latest KO victory
Martinez last fought on a ProBox TV show on March 22nd against Joeshon James. The fight was meant to happen before this date but was postponed due to Martinez being forced to withdraw.
In the outing, Martinez made a statement with a huge fourth-round stoppage over the unbeaten James.
Fans have reacted on social media to the win, with one calling Martinez: “Canelo, Beterbiev, & Benavidez in one boxer.”
Another wrote: “Martinez lookin’ killer, yo. Serve him up Berlanga.”
“Lester Martinez be a straight-up menace,” said a fan.
Even with such an impressive fighter as sparring partner, Oscar De La Hoya believes Canelo beats Crawford.