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Callum Smith doubts whether Terence Crawford will be able to cope with the size of Canelo Alvarez when he moves up two divisions to fight him in September at super middleweight.
Crawford too small?
Lightweight Smith, who shared a ring with Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) when he competed at 168, notes that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) started his career at the sub-135 So. , moving up two weight classes from 154 to fight Canelo at 168 is a “tough ask” in terms of size.
Smith isn’t completely counting out the 37-year-old Crawford, noting that Canelo is starting to show signs of age, but he still thinks it will be tough for the Nebraska native.
Crawford hasn’t fought at super-middleweight, fought his way up to 154 against Israil Madrimov and will be coming off a one-year layoff from the ring if the fight with Canelo goes through in September. If so, he will have been out of the ring for 13 months.
“This is a great fight, both are pound-for-pound stars and exceptional. It will be interesting to see how the weight affects Crawford moving up (to 168),” Callum Smith told Professional boxing fanstalking about the possible Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford in September.
“Like we saw with (former 154-pound undisputed champion Jermell) Charlo. He’s a very good fighter, but he really couldn’t handle (Canelo). It’s good to make weight, but there’s natural size and Crawford comes out of the lowest weights.
“He is a four-weight world champion. So going up two more to face the likes of Canelo is going to be a tough ask, but as we saw with (undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur) Beterbiev (in his recent close fight against Dmitry Bivol), Canelo doesn’t will do it any younger
Spence Win A Fluke
Crawford was at his best at 135 and 140 when he had the size advantage against less-than-stellar opposition in those weight classes when he fought in them. At 147, Bud was slower and easier to hit, and it took a wrecked, inactive, injury-plagued, weight-depleted Errol Spence for Crawford to look good.
Before that, he hadn’t looked impressive in fights against David Avanesyan, Jose Benavidez Jr. and Jeff Horn at welterweight. He looked like an average fighter, better than those low quality guys, but not like a super talent.
It is interesting how much attention was paid to Terence’s victory over Spence. Fans suddenly thought he was an entertaining knockout artist and had fought like that throughout his career.
This was not how Crawford had seen or fought during his career. If fans had watched his entire career, as I had, they would have seen that he was a Shakur-style pusher and counter-puncher, and his knockouts had come against bigger fighters.
Crawford’s recent knockouts
Errol Spence: 34
David Avanesyan: 35 years old
Shawn Porter: 34 years old
Kell Brook: 34
Amir Khan: 34 years old
“He’s had a tough career and he’s had injuries and stuff. As a boxing fan, I’m happy to see these types of fights happen. Now, as a fan, I sit back and watch it. I’m looking forward to it,” Smith said of the Canelo vs. Crawford fight.
Canelo is slowing down at 34 and is not the fighter he was four years ago in 2021 when he won the undisputed super middleweight championship against Calen Plant. However, he is much bigger and stronger and is a natural 168 lbs.
He is also four years younger than Crawford, who turns 38 in September and is coming off a lackluster performance against Israil Madrimov in his debut at 154 on August 3, 2024.
