Canelo Alvarez has decided to face Terence Crawford in a rematch in 2026 to avenge his loss from last September. It’s a move the Mexican star expected, as it’s hard for him to move forward with his career after that defeat.
A Close Fight Sold as a Crawford Masterclass
Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) dethroned Canelo on September 13, 2025, beating him by a narrow 12-round unanimous decision on Netflix. The fight was built up to be a massive win, but it turned out to be a typical cat-and-mouse type of affair with Crawford moving around the ring, throwing punches only sporadically against the slow-moving Canelo.
Canelo’s Body Work That Got Ignored
Many fans created a narrative, painting Crawford in heroic form, saying he’d whitewashed Canelo in a one-sided fashion. The image they made of the fight was a drama that never happened. It was a razor-close contest with Canelo landing hard body shots, Crawford very little, and doing a lot of movement. It was beyond boring.
The undercard fights, even the ones on the prelim portion, were more entertaining to watch. That’s not Canelo’s fault. He tried, but he was facing a mover.
“Canelo told @losprota that he will seek a rematch against Terence Crawford for 2026,” said Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Knockout about Canelo Alvarez wanting to avenge his loss to Terence Crawford.
One of the biggest paydays available for the 35-year-old Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) is against Crawford. So, it makes sense financially, as long as Turki Alalshikh is involved in financing. Aside from a clash with David Benavidez, Crawford is the next-best money fight if Turki plans to subsidize it.
If Turki wants to get more value for his money, he should try to encourage Canelo to fight Benavidez or Artur Beterbiev. Those two would be the most entertaining to watch for fans. Bringing up Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis would also be a great option, as he would attack Canelo. He wouldn’t move around like Crawford because that’s not Ennis’ style. He’s an entertainer who would be trying to knock out Canelo.
It would be better for Turki to insist on new blood to develop younger fighters rather than throwing money at older guys who fight only once a year. To bring the sport along and to give fans an entertaining fight, Turki should focus on picking Canelo’s opponent from this list:
- David Benavidez
- Osleys Iglesias
- Diego Pacheco
- Jaron Ennis
- Lester Martinez
- Diego Pacheco
Crawford’s Cat-and-Mouse Game Isn’t Changing
For Canelo to avenge the loss, he’s going to have to change his footwork to become more mobile. Crawford will surely do what he did last time by landing a few shots and then moving around to stall out the rounds. It wasn’t the action-packed fight that fans had mistakenly expected to see. They weren’t familiar with Crawford’s fighting style, as that’s how he’s always fought.
The 38-year-old Crawford isn’t going to change his fighting style. He’s not going to get young all of a sudden. It’ll be the same Jerry-esque style that we saw last September, and in his fight against Israil Madrimov.