Canelo Alvarez is gearing up for a mega-fight against fellow pound-for-pound elite, Terence Crawford.
Canelo is hoping to secure his 64th victory this September as he prepares to face Bud Crawford.
With nearly 70 fights under his belt, fans are fearful that Canelo’s high mileage could be forcing him to wind down, with the Mexican star having not scored a stoppage win since 2021.
Of his 63 wins, 39 have come by knockout, and yet Alvarez has scored just one in his last eight fights, against Caleb Plant.
Though Crawford has the toughest task in moving up in weight to face Canelo, many believe the Mexican is not quite the same man he was when he stopped a whole host of opponents, including The Riverside Rocky.
Canelo Alvarez breezed through Josesito Lopez in 2012
In 2018, after defeating Shane Mosley, a 40-0-1 Canelo was pitted against 30-4 Josesito ‘The Riverside Rocky’ Lopez.
Lopez had just one loss in the four years before the fight, to Jessie Vargas, and seemed a worthy challenger at the time.
After evading the canvas in round one, though, the writing was on the wall as Canelo, who named his boxing Mount Rushmore, dropped Lopez in rounds two, three, and four, before closing the show with a fifth-round stoppage victory.
Lopez failed in his bid for the Mexican star’s crown, but came closer to greatness years later.
In 2019, Lopez entered the ring against an undefeated Keith Thurman, who would go on to push Manny Pacquiao in one of the toughest fights of his career with a round one knockdown costing him the fight.
Thurman and Lopez fought hard, and after 12 rounds, Thurman edged a victory by majority decision.
Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford both have questions to answer
Ahead of their blockbuster fight, Crawford and Canelo are both having questions asked of them, questions they will hope to answer in the ring.
For Crawford, the Israil Madrimov fight was a struggle, and could’ve shown that he has hit his ceiling in terms of weight. How will he cope with moving up two further divisions against one of boxing’s best?
For Canelo, is the power still there? Is the speed still there? We saw Canelo pick up a drab win over William Scull last time out, but many see a fading version of the elite talent.
Jose Benavidez Sr. thinks Crawford vs Canelo won’t be fan friendly, as Crawford will run the whole time in a bid to evade a knockout from a desperate but fading Canelo.