The Only Sales Pitch
There was no scoring controversy. No robbery narrative. No disputed knockdowns. Crawford won clean. The one hook for a sequel is whether or not fans consider Canelo fought below his true capability. That’s where this gets difficult.
The version of Canelo that struggled with pace and foot speed against Crawford didn’t appear out of nowhere. In his previous fights against Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga, and William Scull, similar signs were visible. He controlled those bouts and won them, however the urgency was measured, and the legs didn’t look explosive. The response time was not what it once was.
He could get through those nights without being pressed the way in which Crawford pressed him.
So when Canelo says the primary fight was compromised by cramps and fatigue, fans have to determine what they consider. Was it a one night physical malfunction, or was it the identical gradual erosion that has shown itself greater than once?
Boxing fans are used to hearing post-loss explanations. Injuries occur. Bad nights occur. Aging happens, too. It rarely arrives all of sudden. It shows up in small moments. A half step slower. A beat late on the counter. A round lost since the legs don’t fire.
The rematch activates whether people consider him. If fans think he fought well below his best, they’ll picture it playing out in another way next time. In the event that they think that version is solely who he’s now, there’s no mystery left. It just seems like going over the identical ground again.
That’s the true hurdle. Convincing those who the primary fight wasn’t the true version is the tough part.