Trainer Virgil Hunter believes the potential clash between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez might be a “technical chess match” between the 2 champions.
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh desires to put a fight between undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) and the previous three-division world champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) for the winter in December or January.
Crawford still has a fight on August third against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on the BMO Stadium in Las Angeles. His Excellency didn’t say whether Crawford getting the Canelo fight was contingent on him beating Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), but that will make sense.
It might be hard for the prideful Crawford to walk away from a loss to Madrimov to take a fight against Canelo, especially if it’s a knockout loss.
Intriguing Fight, Piqued Interest
“It definitely would go down as an intriguing fight, and it could pique the interest of the fans,” said trainer Virgil Hunter to Fighthype in regards to the clash between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford if it happens in December or January.
“You bought a variety of people pondering that Terence can win that fight and a variety of those that think that Canelo can win.”
It’s an interesting fight because Crawford and Canelo are seen as two of one of the best fighters in the game. Each guys are getting on in years and near the tip of their careers.
What also makes it intriguing is the concept of Crawford moving up three weight classes from 147 to tackle Canelo at 168, and gifting away size. It might be unattainable for Crawford to have any probability of winning if he were fighting a big and young super middleweight like David Benavidez or David Morrell.
Those guys are only too big, powerful, and young for Crawford. But Canelo is an old 33, fighting more like a 40-ish fighter. Canelo’s work rate is low, and he has stamina problems that will give Crawford a probability.
Size vs. Skills
“So, I feel that creates a variety of interest in that fight. If we needed to go on the fundamentals and history, you say the larger guy [Canelo] wins. But in Terence, we’re talking about an exceptional fighter. So, you possibly can’t count him out,” said Hunter.
If Crawford can’t handle Canelo’s punching power, he’ll be hesitant to let his hands go. We saw how Gennadiy Golovkin, a real middleweight, was cautious about letting his hands go in his first two fights with Canelo.
Golovkin couldn’t attack Canelo since it was too dangerous, so he threw a variety of jabs, which resulted in his failure to win. Crawford doesn’t have GGG’s size and power, and he hasn’t been hit by a fighter like Canelo. Errol Spence Jr. looked drained and slow in his fight with Crawford last July.
“It’s a fight that I could be very interested by seeing. You may have to commend Terence for just taking that step up in the load classes and daring to be great to give you the chance to tackle a task that monumental,” said Hunter.
A Chess Match, Not a War
“If Canelo won, I wouldn’t be surprised. If Terence won, I wouldn’t be surprised,” said Hunter. “I feel it could be a chess match based on Terence’s ability and Canelo’s ability. I don’t think it could be a fight that will go down as a war due to Terence’s athletic ability and talent to evade.”
Hopefully, Hunter is flawed in regards to the Canelo vs. Crawford fight being a chess match because that’s not what boxing fans need to see. They need to see a war with each fighters letting their hands go along with knockout intention.
“At the identical time, he must be careful of coming into the mouth of the lion himself and gifting away size and strength. I feel it could be a tactical fight and a fight for the technical purists,” said Hunter.
