Crawford’s Heavy Gait At The Weigh-In Signals Trouble Ahead For The Canelo Fight

Terence Crawford looked huge at today’s ceremonial weigh-in, appearing to be in the high 170s for his title challenge against the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Crawford appeared bigger than Canelo on stage when they stood for their face-off.

A Slower, Heavier Gait

After weighing in at a career-high 167 1/2 pounds earlier on Friday, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) had nine rounds to rehydrate before the ceremonial weigh-in at 9:00 p.m. ET. In that time, he gained a lot of weight. Crawford had a swollen look, like someone who had gained a lot of water weight in a short period.

An Old Man’s Appearance

Crawford was so heavy that he resembled an old man with his heavy gait, waddling to the stage. You could tell that the weight slowed his normal walking pace down. His body looked like a bulked-out, musclebound cruiserweight.

The way the 38-ish Crawford looks, he’d better try for a knockout earlier because I believe he’s going to get hit a lot by Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) in this fight due to the loss of speed and the weight that he’s carrying around. He looks much bigger than he did in his last fight against Israil Madrimov in 2024.

Madrimov recently warned against Crawford bulking up for the Canelo fight, telling Fight Hub TV, “The only thing Terence should avoid is gaining weight. I would never gain weight for Canelo. I would stick to what Crawford is.”

It appears that Crawford didn’t heed Madrimov’s advice to him, and he could pay for it tonight when he steps inside the ring against Canelo. He should have listened to Madrimov because he was already too slow for that fight and took more punishment than he ever had before.

The Canelo Power Test

“I think the key to this fight is Canelo’s power. It’s going to be a lot to deal with. He goes to the body and he goes to the chin. Eddy Reynoso, when he’s pacing you through those little feints, he wants you to do everything hard. So, if you get it wrong, it’s night-night,” said boxing analyst Mike Coppinger to Ring Magazine at the weigh-in for Canelo’s fight against Terence Crawford.

Many people are forgetting that it’s not all about Crawford’s weight. Tonight’s fight will be determined by how well Crawford can take Canelo’s power. Even though Terence now looks like a true super middleweight in size, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to be able to take Alvarez’s punching power.

“Canelo wasn’t in the best shape for his fight against William Scull. He told me in training camp that he’s always better in September than May.”