The Madrimov Aftermath: Terence Crawford’s Last Performance Has Fans And Experts Questioning His Chances Against Canelo Alvarez

Shane Mosley expects Terence Crawford to be competitive against superstar Canelo Alvarez in the early rounds of their fight on September 13th. Alvarez’s size will take over, leading to a victory for him.

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is being given a straight title shot without working for it against undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) on September 13th at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The Skepticism Surrounding Bud

Terence, 37, is coming up two weight classes from 154 to 168 to challenge Canelo. The weight jump is one of the major factors for why fans are skeptical about Crawford’s chances of winning. His inactivity for a year out of the ring and his age make it tougher for people to view him as having a legitimate chance of winning.

The fans who remember Canelo’s win over former undisputed 154-lb champion Jermell Charlo from two years ago on September 30, 2023, view Crawford in a similar light, but older, weaker, and smaller than Jermell.

Mosley’s Fight Forecast

“I see Crawford having a good fight for the first four rounds, but then I see Canelo slowly commanding the fight and winning,” said former three-division world champion Shane Mosley to Fight Hub TV. “He’s too big. He’s [Crawford] very courageous and doing all the right things. I think Canelo is too big.”

As Mosley points out, Canelo’s size will be too much for Crawford. The Omaha, Nebraska, native only had one fight at 154 after moving up from 147 a year ago on August 3, 2024, and he didn’t shine in his fight against Israil Madrimov. This was not the 24k gold that fans had grown accustomed to seeing from Crawford. Blame it on age, inactivity, or the weight jump; it wasn’t the same Bud that people had seen in the past.

Kovalev on the Weight Jump

“Terence Crawford, I think he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter. He can beat Canelo, but I don’t know how he will be comfortable in this division,” said former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev. “It’s too big [of a weight jump from 154 to 168]. He’ll [Crawford] be slower, because he’ll be bigger.”

The weight Crawford has put on, and his decision not to take one or two warm-up fights at 168, will make it difficult. Crawford’s fans believe that his just sparring against bigger fighters in training camp is enough and counts the same as it would in a real fight. However, there’s a difference between using sparring partners and facing a top-tier contender at super middleweight, like Diego Pacheco, Christian Mbilli, or Osley Iglesias.

Of course, Crawford wouldn’t have likely used any of those fighters for a tune-up at 168, as it would have been too risky. Those are high-level contenders that would give even Canelo problems.

“It’s not good for Crawford, but I can see that he can win by points. Canelo will be like [covering up], keeping his hands up. Crawford is very fast and very smart, but in his weight division. Nobody knows how he’ll feel at super middleweight. If he is in shape, he will beat Canelo,” said Kovalev.

A Questionable Last Performance

Sergey is leaving out Crawford needing to avoid getting hit by Canelo, because he took a lot of heavy shots in his last fight against Israil Madrimov 13 months ago on August 3, 2024. Although Crawford outlanded Madrimov 95 to 84, he got hit with the harder, cleaner shots in every round.

It made it difficult to pick a winner, as Crawford only outlanded Madrimov by 11 punches. It wasn’t enough to overlook the harder punches from Madrimov. However, the judges who worked the fight gave the win to Crawford anyway, with a 12-round unanimous decision, by scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 115-113.

If Canelo can land nearly as often as Crawford, it’s going to be difficult for Terence to get the decision win without the judges overlooking the power of Alvarez’s shots.