Can the story be repeated? The comparison of Ray Leonard-Marvin Hagler sugar and why it may not be applied to Crawford vs. Cannel

Dazn’s commentator, Chris Mannix, has doubts about whether the muscle that Terence Crawford has added to his Wiry frame, will slow him down as a boat anchor for his title challenge against the super unquestionable champion Canelo Alvarez on September 13.

A year of climb

Crawford (41-0, 31 kos) has had a year to add weight and train only for this fight against Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 kos) in Netflix at the stage of Las Vegas. The fact that it addresses until the mid -180’s without trying the weight in a real struggle in Super Middleweight is to put Crawford in a difficult situation.

“One of the questions I have for Bud that is introduced in this struggle is when you reach the six -year -old round and further. This additional muscle that is wearing. Is it still lasting? Is it still cool in the second half of the struggle?” said commentator Chris Mannix to Dazn boxAsking, if the weight that Terence Crawford has packaged in the last year, will stop it as an anchor for his challenge for the title against Canelo Alvarez.

Additional weight, less speed

Bringing this additional weight will make Crawford slower. It will not be faster by wearing around more than 20 pounds. As Mannix points out, the muscle that Crawford has packaged could slow him down, making him vulnerable to being run over by Canelo, who is used to fighting in this division. Being affected by Canelo could be an uncomfortable experience for Crawford.

Although Alvarez does not take him out, he could have trouble gaining rounds. The judges will focus on the fighter who lands on the hardest and cleaner traits, and that would be Canelo. Crawford did not show an increase in power by increasing its move to 154 against Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024.

The 12 round of rods of Canelo

“We know that Canelo can make 12 rounds and be fantastic more than 12 rounds. He has done it again and again,” said Mannix. “We know that Crawford can deepen the fights with minor weights. The muscle is heavy. He will take it against a boy who will be fast, he will be strong and will be elite in the second half of the fight.”

The next victory of Madrimov

Crawford seemed slower and not so energetic in his last struggle, from 147 to 154 to assume Israil Madrimov, a middle weight champion of the WBA, on August 3, 2024. Terence ate many strokes on the route to win a unanimous decision of 12 rounds, but it was a fight that he could lose if Madrimov had been more aggressive in the rounds of the championship.

It was not the type of performance that Crawford said would be a lock to defeat the other 154 pounds. He looked at his age in this struggle and his power was not the same.

“I thought it was a very close struggle. I thought Madrimov won the fight personally. I thought he landed the cleanest shots and controlled the pace, “said promoter Eddie Hearn.

“ There is no doubt that Crawford will go into this similar struggle that is in the best way of his life. He looks physically spectacular. He has put the weight in the right way. And this is not the case of a boy who had a couple of months to get up to 168 pounds. He has been preparing this movement for the best part of a year. He knew he was Canelo Alvarez or Bust, ” said Mannix.

Crawford has taken a whole year to train for this fight against Alvarez. Bud’s last struggle was on May 3, 2024, against Israil Madrimov, and then learned that Canelo was the next. So, instead of returning to the ring to fight, he chose to use the last 12 months to slowly increase.

However, put a lot of weight to fight in the weight class of 168 LB with no experience after a year of inactivity is not ideal for Crawford. He has chosen to jump immediately, instead of making the gradual route that other fighters have.

Leonard-Hagler’s comparison

Fans and the media argue that Crawford can win because Sugar Ray Leonard already showed that a fighter can increase weight divisions to fight an older boy when he defeated, then, WBC champion and Ring Middleweight, Marvin Hagler, by a controversial 12 -lap decision on April 6, 1987.

Leonard had 30, not 37, pushing 38, like Crawford. In addition, Leonard’s previous struggle was at 154, and only a weight division, not two like Crawford. The result of Leonard-Hagler’s struggle was far from conclusive, as many boxing fans felt that Hagler had done enough to deserve the victory. The scores of the judges were:

• 115–113 for Leonard
• 118–110 for Leonard
• 115–113 for Hagler