Canelo And Crawford Trade Verbals – ‘The Belts Are Coming With Me'

Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford held the kick-off presser ahead of their Undisputed Super Middleweight Championship bout.

The press conference took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with further press conferences expected in New York on June 22 and Las Vegas on June 27. Canelo makes the first defense of his Undisputed Super Middleweight Belt having secured all the belts by beating William Scull in his last fight. It was the second time Canelo became undisputed at the weight class, having only lost against Floyd Mayweather and Dmitry Bivol. Meanwhile, Crawford moves up from junior middleweight as he aims to make history. A win over Canelo makes Crawford undisputed in a third weight class, retaining his undefeated record. Here is what the fighters had to say during the press conference. 

Canelo

"Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great fighter, (but) like I say, he’s not Canelo. Obviously, I’ve been in this situation for a long time, and I have the experience. They only focus on my power, but I have more than that. I think this fight is going to be one of the best fights in my history, in my record, and I’m very excited. I’m very excited and motivated because I want to make history, and I’m very excited for this fight.

"For sure, them belts are coming with me. They’re coming home with me. I’m telling you. There ain’t nothing you’re gonna be able to do about it come fight night. I know Turki is in your corner, but look, it’s gonna be very difficult. He’s gonna be so mad that day! You’re nothing different," Canelo

Crawford

"I called Canelo out because, like I said, he’s the last great fighter amongst the era that surpassed us – the Floyd, the Pacquiao, the De La Hoya. We both came up in that era, and he was right there with those fighters. And he got the chance to fight the Miguel Cottos, the Floyd Mayweathers, the (Sergey) Kovalevs and the Triple G’s (Gennadiy Golovkin). I wasn’t able to get those mega fights. So this is my mega fight, this is my moment, and that’s the reason why I want to fight an all-time great like Canelo.

"I can’t focus on the judges. I’ve just got to focus on doing what I can do and controlling what I can control inside the ring, and that’s going out there and winning the fight decisively. Like I said before, any fighter can be knocked out. Canelo’s got a granite chin. He’s tough, he’s durable. We’ve seen him hurt a couple of times, but not to the point where it’s not respected. But, given the right circumstances, anybody can get knocked out," Crawford

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