Ring announcer David Diamante says it’s a “tough ask” for Terence Crawford to move up from 154 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his titles at 168 in September after a less-than-brilliant performance in his last fight against Israil Madrimov.
Diamante feels that Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) is on another level than Madrimov and Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) just scrapped by with a narrow win against him last year on August 3rd. Although he’s not ruling out entirely a win for the soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford due to Canelo “getting older,” he still views it as a difficult fight for him.
Historical Context
If Crawford were willing to get some experience in the super middleweight division before fighting Canelo, he would increase his chances of winning. He’s not willing to do that.
A win for Terence would be one of the biggest upsets in boxing history because of the weight jump that he would be undertaking going up two divisions to challenge the superstar Canelo.
Sugar Ray Leonard’s 12-round split decision victory over WBC middleweight Marvin Hagler on April 6th, 1987, is perhaps the biggest accomplishment in the sport’s history around the same weight class area as Canelo-Crawford. Leonard was only 30, a lot younger than Crawford will be when he takes on Canelo.
“Can he do it? Yes. It’s a very tough ask,” said ring announcer David Diamante to Boxing Social when asked if Terence Crawford can defeat Canelo Alvarez at 168. “Look, at 154, he didn’t look brilliant against [Israil] Madrimov.
“Madrimov is a great fighter, but he’s not Canelo. No one can tell me he’s Canelo, right? He [Crawford] went up to 154. He won a fight, but it wasn’t an a** kicking. It was nip & tuck,” continued Diamante about Crawford’s razor-close 12-round unanimous decision in his debut at 154 against WBA junior middleweight champion Madrimov on August 3rd in Los Angeles.
“Alright, I thought he won the fight, but it was somewhat close. Now, you’re asking him to go up two more weight divisions to fight Canelo. It’s a tough ask. The thing is, you have to look at the attributes and the non-attributes. Boxing is a science.”
The Mayweather Model
Crawford has the Floyd Mayweather Jr. blueprint to follow for him to upset Canelo, and that makes his job much easier. Mayweather showed how to beat Canelo by jabbing, keeping his upper body low to minimize the target, throwing single shots, and moving around the ring.
“You do say a good big man beats a good small man. We do have weight divisions for a reason, but at the same time, Canelo is getting a little bit older,” said Diamante. “You have a guy [Crawford] with fast hands in Terence Crawford. He’s an absolute dog. He can fight southpaw, orthodox, and has great footwork.
“Can he steal a win? Sure, but it’s going to be tough, though,” said Diamante about Crawford.
