Jeff Horn believes Terence Crawford has the power and skills to knock out the bigger Canelo Alvarez in their fight on September 13th. The former WBO welterweight champion Horn was dethroned by Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) seven years ago, losing by a ninth-round knockout on June 9th, 2018.
Horn couldn’t do anything against Crawford in that fight, as he lacked the skills to consistently land his shots to make it a harder fight. That was seven years ago, and Crawford is not as young now. He’s also fighting a much bigger and stronger Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs). It’s not the same 30-year-old Crawford that fought Horn.
The Unlikely Stoppage Theory
“I think Crawford is going to use his great defense and clip Canelo every now and again,” said Jeff Horn to Fight Hub TV. “I feel like the fight goes to a decision. It’s going to be a stoppage early, where he just tries to batter Crawford because of the size difference, or Crawford outsmarts him in there. He clips him and tires him out and potentially stops Canelo later in the light like he did with myself.”
Crawford will surely land shots, but his ability to hurt Canelo is limited unless he’s made considerable strides in that area with his SNAC training. At 38, you don’t usually see a fighter make massive improvements in power. Crawford suddenly developing Gennadiy Golovkin-like strength in one training camp would make fans suspicious.
Weathering the Early Storm
“He’s [Crawford] got super accurate shots, and if he’s able to weather the storm early from Canelo, if that’s what his strategy is, that could tire him out,” said Horn. “That could allow a window for Terence Crawford to start seeing if he’s able to pick the holes and land the good shots. He could certainly tire Canelo out and stop him later in the fight. It’s definitely possible,” said Horn.
Crawford was faster back when he fought Horn, but he was still getting hit. And the way he dominated Horn was similar to how Michael Zerafa and Tim Tszyu both side around the same time. Zerafa also knocked out Horn in nine rounds, and Tszyu did it in eight. It’s not a big deal that Crawford stopped Horn. It would be interesting to know if Horn would also predict that Zerafa and Tszyu would beat Canelo.
