Mike Tyson says he’s hoping Terence Crawford will defeat Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship. He has doubts that he will in their long-awaited fight this Saturday, September 13, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
The Risk to Crawford’s Legacy
A victory for Crawford would likely lead to a rematch with Alvarez, which would be huge and create a lot of interest among fans. There’s also the possibility of other important fights for Crawford if he chooses to take risks to fight light heavyweights.
The downside for Crawford is that his unbeaten record would be on the line going up against Dmitry Bivol, David Benavidez, and David Morrell. But it would give him the chance to cement his legacy by beating fighters in their prime, not 35-year-olds showing signs of decline like Canelo.
What concerns the former heavyweight champion, ‘Iron Mike’, is the punching power of Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs). He hits hard, and Crawford, the 38-ish, hasn’t felt that kind of power in his career from 135 to 154.
Alvarez’s Power Concerns ‘Iron Mike’
“I want Crawford to win, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. This guy is a hard puncher, he’s a smart fighter,” said Mike Tyson to Ring Magazine about wanting Terence Crawford to upset Canelo Alvarez this Saturday night in what Turki Alalshikh has labeled, ‘Fight of the Century.’
What makes it even harder for Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is that he’s been given the red carpet treatment by Turki Alalshikh, allowed to move up two divisions after one razor-close fight at 154 to 168 to challenge Alvarez for his IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles.
It’s putting Crawford in a tough position where he may need to hope the judges score rounds based on his jabbing rather than the hard punches that Canelo will be landing. That’s how Crawford won his last fight against the WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024.
Madrimov landed the harder punches in the fight. Crawford landed a lot of jabs and lighter shots to win a 12-round unanimous decision despite having only an 11-punch advantage. Crawford connected on 95 of 433 shots, while Madrimov landed 84 of 275,