cold Crawford savors Canelo super fight once saved for Spence

LAS VEGAS – When Terence Crawford was getting ready to face Errol Spence Jr. for the undisputed welterweight title two summers ago, the pre-fight promotional chatter on Spence’s future centered around the Texan moving closer to his planned crack at Canelo Alvarez, if he had beaten Bud.

That turned out to be a big if, and whiff, as Crawford blasted Spence with a one-sided beating and crushed the idea of a Canelo-Spence clash once pegged for AT&T Stadium in Texas.

In 2022, TGB Promotions chief Tom Brown said he offered Alvarez $50 million for a Spence fight at 164 pounds as part of a two-fight deal that would have kicked off with Alvarez facing Jermall Charlo. Alvarez instead moved on to face Dmitry Bivol, but Alvarez coach and manager Eddy Reynoso said a Spence fight would eventually happen.

While everything was being promised to Spence, Crawford was in the background, admittedly creeping on the come up and manifesting the Alvarez encounter. His career-defining win against Spence allowed him to start calling his own shots, and during his victory lap, the one fighter who was front and center for his callouts was the undisputed super middleweight king Alvarez.

Mission accomplished.

On Saturday, inside of a different football stadium, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, two of the best fighters of their generation will battle it out for supremacy in a mega matchup that will stream globally on Netflix.

“I've been thinking about this fight before I moved up to 154,” Crawford told reporters. “I wanted to go straight from 147 to 168, because it's never been done before against a top-five pound-for-pound fighter like Canelo.

“A lot of people want to see this, and if this fighter can go up to this weight and beat this fighter. It keeps the sport going. Being the best pound-for-pound fighter means that you can beat any fighter at any weight. I feel like, if I can make the same weight as another fighter, then I should be able to beat them, because I am No. 1 in the world.”

After knocking out everyone he faced at 147 pounds during an eight-fight run from 2018 to 2023, Crawford moved up to 154 pounds in August and defeated Israil Madrimov by a unanimous decision to win the WBA title.

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) started bulking up earlier this year once the Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) fight became a reality, posting a picture in March stating he was 186 pounds. He has since shared more chiseled photos of his physique.

Crawford and Canelo appear to be the same size when they stand next to each other. But on fight night, the slight betting favorite Alvarez, with no weight restrictions, is expected to overpower his naturally smaller-framed counterpart.

“There are weight classes for a reason” is a phrase that’s being bandied about from top figures in the sport, all the way down to the comments section.

The stone-cold Crawford couldn’t care less, however, because he’s as confident as he was in 2023 when he first set his radar on Alvarez soon after beating Spence.

The Nebraska native believes he belongs on boxing’s Mount Rushmore should he win the fight.

“I'm not new to this,” Crawford said. “Everything impresses me about Canelo. I am a big Canelo fan. But this is business. I am coming to take everything Canelo has.”

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.

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