A Peek Behind The Curtain: Terence Crawford’s Irritability And Deflection In The Face Of Criticism

Terence Crawford sounded confident today, telling the media that he’s “1000%” certain of victory over Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Repeatedly, Crawford said, “I’m going to win.”

The way Bud kept saying this sounded similar to a line from the children’s story, The Little Engine That Could, “I think I can. I think I can.”

“I’m going to be victorious, and everybody is going to be talking about it on Sunday. I’m 1000% sure now,” said Terence Crawford during today’s press conference about his confidence in defeating four-belt 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez on Saturday.

Truth Behind the Facade

It sounds like Crawford is either overconfident or purposefully putting up a facade of courage to prevent Alvarez from seeing how unsure he is going into their fight. Given how Crawford looked against Israil Madrimov in his last performance in 2024, it doesn’t make sense for him to be so cocksure of victory moving up two weight classes to face Canelo.

“If a fighter says, ‘I’m 1000% sure,’ they’re lying. I’m more than ready to perform this Saturday,” said Crawford.

“I’m definitely going to win this fight for sure. I don’t think losing for me or Canelo tarnishes our legacy,” said Crawford.

Sure it does. It hurts either one of these fighters if they lose on Saturday, especially if it’s by a knockout or a one-sided defeat. I think it hurts Canelo more than Crawford, though, because he’s the bigger fighter, the favorite, and the star. Bud has an excuse that will insulate him from having his legacy tarnished as much as Canelo’s would, but it still will be hurt if he loses.

Terence maintains that they’re both still going to the Hall of Fame, even if they lose on Saturday. That sounds accurate. A loss here would be overlooked by the Hall of Fame committee due to the accomplishments they’d had over the course of their careers.

Crawford says that he’s been “underestimated” by people going into this fight in every way, but he states that he doesn’t care. Obviously, for him to mention that, it suggests that it does bother him, and he has a chip on his shoulder going into the fight.

Deflecting Criticism with Scull

When Crawford was asked about his last fight against Madrimov, he got touchy, choosing to deflect by pointing out that Canelo hadn’t performed well either in his recent contest against William Scull on May 3, 2025.

The Irritable Fighter’s Defense

Rather than quickly changing the subject, Crawford belabored his point, telling the media that they need to talk about Canelo’s performance against Scull rather than him. He sounded irritable here with his fending off criticism by diverting the subject onto how Alvarez had looked.

Terence could have come across better at that moment if he had openly admitted that he hadn’t fought well against Madrimov, but had learned from it. Instead, Crawford sidetracked the conversation and threw Canelo under the bus.

That brief interaction allowed the media to get a glimpse of what Crawford is like, and it wasn’t a pretty picture.