Crawford Backed To Beat Canelo – ‘He Can Do It’

Terence Crawford has been backed to beat Canelo Alvarez at Super Middleweight.

The talk over a Crawford-Canelo fight continues to rumble on now that Bud appears to have moved on from the Spence rematch. He stopped Spence in the ninth round to become the first Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the four-belt era. After the fight, Spence exercised his rematch clause with the aim to fight at 154 pounds.

But that all changed when Crawford felt aggrieved at excuses that were put out for Spence’s loss. His fans alleged that the 147 weight cut was why he did not look like his dominant self. Spence never endorsed those claims, but he stated that his vision was compromised in the fight. He would later have cataract surgery, claiming that this was the reason why Bud had hit him so many occasions. That was enough for Crawford to move on, which is why a Canelo bout could occur. Sugar Ray Leonard has backed Crawford with a chance of winning.

Leonard On Crawford

“Three weight classes? Well, you know what? If anyone can do it, he can do it. That takes me way, way back when I was fighting. I always believed I could win when I walked into that ring. The fights that I did lose, I didn’t feel comfortable. It’s one of those things. The higher you go up, the harder it is because you don’t want to carry too much weight. As long as it doesn’t prevent him [Crawford] from moving and slipping punches and just stay on the outside. Fight his fight,” Leonard said 

The main question heading into such a fight would be whether Bud can take the shots at 168. He was rocked by Yuriorkis Gamboa, only to come back then and stop him. But if Canelo tagged him with similar shots, he would likely go down. There is also the question of whether the weight would slow him down.

Crawford’ Chances

Jermell Charlo suffered such a problem after he moved up from 154 to take on Alvarez. His speed was not there, and his punches failed to hurt Alvarez, who walked him down. Although Canelo failed to knock him out, it was never a competitive fight. But Teddy Atlas expects Crawford’s punch resistance to improve at 168, increasing his win chances. Tim Bradley backed up claims over a Crawford win.

“He’s already moved up three weight classes. Does he have the skeleton to go up six? I don’t know. I know he’s got the character and I know he’s got the mind. [And] I know he’s got the special gifts that very few fighters have. The only two I know that have it right now is him and Inoue,” Atlas

“If Crawford can get off, avoid those big shots, get off again because you see the big shots coming… Crawford is going to be able to see all of that. He’s too knowledgeable inside the ring, his IQ is too high. If he can not get knocked out, he can out-box Canelo,” Bradley 

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