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Philippines, 17 Jun 2025 |
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Álvarez vs. Crawford: "Champions of Champions" By Gary Todd PhilBoxing.com Fri, 30 May 2025  When you talk about Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and consider what he has achieved since debuting as a fifteen-year-old boy to now as a thirty-five-year-old man, it is easy to run out of superlatives. The same goes for Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford. The words legend, superstar, undisputed champion, and pound-for-pound great have been thrown around by boxing scribes for decades, but we rarely hear fighters being described as special. Crawford and Alvarez are just that—they are both extraordinary in what they have achieved in their lives as boxers. Crawford began boxing at seven years old in a local gym in Omaha, Nebraska. He competed in seventy contests before turning professional in 2008. Alvarez came from a fighting family, following his brothers to the gym every day, where he would watch them train and spar. He was thirteen when he started boxing as an amateur. After forty-six contests, Alvarez turned professional in 2005. He was fifteen years old. In 2014, after racking up an impressive 22-0 win streak, Crawford traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, to challenge the proud WBO lightweight champion, Ricky Burns. The durable champion was outboxed and outgunned as Crawford took his heart and his title, beating him on points to win his first world title. Following good wins over Yuriorkis Gamboa and Raymundo Beltran, Crawford moved up to fight Thomas Dulorme for the WBO light welterweight title in Texas. Crawford battered Dulorme to win in the sixth round, becoming a two-weight world champion. He went on to defend his light welterweight title, then beat the tremendously tough Ukrainian boxer, Viktor Postol, for the WBC light welterweight title and *The Ring* belt in 2016. After more defenses, he faced Julius Indongo for his WBC and WBO belts along with the IBF title, knocking him out with a body shot in the third round. In 2018, Crawford moved up to challenge the Australian brawler Jeff Horn for his newly won WBO welterweight title. Crawford dismantled and outclassed the champion to win a world title in a third weight class. 
Crawford stops Brook in the 4th round during their meeting in 2020. Crawford went on to beat Amir Khan, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter in big wins. By 2022, next up was David Avanesyan. Crawford knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his WBO welterweight title—a win that was instrumental in securing a mega-fight with the unified welterweight champion of the world, Errol Spence Jr. Going into the fight, many insiders favored Spence, believing he was too big, too fast, and too powerful for Crawford. I picked Crawford to dominate and control the fight. My view was that Spence was entering the bout as a damaged fighter. I thought Crawford would target Spence’s eye—and he did—beating the unified champion to a pulp to become the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. After a year off, Crawford moved up to challenge the WBA junior middleweight champion, Israil Madrimov, in 2024. Madrimov was a decorated amateur with 350 contests under his belt and was unbeaten as a professional. The man from Uzbekistan was well-schooled and hard as a rock. Crawford boxed well, countering Madrimov and winning exchanges on the inside, but the champion fought with pride and determination to take Crawford the distance in a tremendous fight. Crawford won on all three scorecards to become a world champion in a fourth weight class. Terence Crawford is now 41-0 with 31 KOs. Saul Alvarez won his first world title in his thirty-seventh fight. He beat the English fighter Matthew Hatton on points to claim the vacant WBC junior middleweight championship in 2011. After knockout wins over Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, and Kermit Cintron, he was matched to fight Shane Mosley in 2012. Alvarez fought with patience and maturity against the dangerous and experienced Mosley, winning on points in Las Vegas. After beating Josesito Lopez and Austin Trout, and adding the WBA and The Ring junior middleweight belts, he took on the challenge of facing Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather was too good on the inside, too smart on the outside, and too fast for Alvarez, beating him on points in 2013. Alvarez returned in March 2014 against the tough Alfredo Angulo, beating him in ten rounds. He then fought Erislandy Lara in a closely contested fight that he won by a disputed split decision. Next up was the powerful James Kirkland, but Alvarez’s pressure, speed, and power proved too much, knocking him out in the third round. This set up a fight with Puerto Rican great Miguel Cotto—a huge fight for both champions. At stake was the vacant WBC middleweight championship of the world. Cotto, having already been beaten by Mayweather and Austin Trout in 2012, was nearing the twilight of a brutal career and entered the fight as a big underdog. 
Alvarez (R) connects with a left at Cotto. Alvarez and Cotto traded punches for twelve tremendous rounds, but in the end, Alvarez’s speed, timing, and punch variety made the difference. He countered Cotto with big right hands, uppercuts, and hard body shots to win by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. It was now 2016, and Alvarez took on the challenge of the talented Amir Khan. In the fight, the Mexican was being outboxed until he stepped in with a devastating right hand to Khan’s jaw in the sixth round, knocking him out cold. Alvarez then won the WBO junior middleweight title after breaking down the courageous Liam Smith, battering his body with fast left rips and stopping him in the ninth round. In 2017, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw) was up next. Spite, testosterone, Mexican pride, and bragging rights were the themes of this catchweight fight. Alvarez dismantled and punished the much bigger Chavez Jr., taking him the full twelve rounds on Mexican Independence Day weekend in Las Vegas. Gennady Golovkin had terrorized the middleweight division for years, and a fight with Alvarez was both lucrative and inevitable. The bout was signed for September 2017 in Las Vegas. Golovkin out-thought, outboxed, and outgunned Alvarez—but in the end, the fight was declared a split draw. Golovkin was denied a victory—a robbery in the desert. The rematch came a year later, and this time Alvarez was declared the winner by majority decision, claiming the WBC, WBA, and *The Ring* middleweight championships. From there, Alvarez beat Rocky Fielding at super middleweight and Daniel Jacobs at middleweight in 2019. He stepped up to light heavyweight to challenge Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title and stopped him in the eleventh round. After beating Callum Smith on points and defending his super middleweight titles, Alvarez battered Avni Yildirim in three rounds, destroyed the loud-mouthed traveling man Billy Joe Saunders in eight, and stopped the tough Caleb Plant in eleven rounds to finish 2021 with a bang—as the undisputed champion of the world. 
Canelo (R) and Golovkin go at it for the third time in 2022. In May 2022, Alvarez ventured back up to 175 to challenge the talented WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. Bivol fought brilliantly—shutting down Alvarez’s attacks, pushing him back to the ropes, and landing hard combinations that stunned and hurt him until the final bell. Bivol retained his title. Alvarez returned to Las Vegas to complete the trilogy with Golovkin at super middleweight. This time, age, thoughts of retirement, and the desire to beat Alvarez were all punched out of Golovkin. Alvarez won by unanimous decision, retaining his WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and *The Ring* world titles. The Mexican superstar continued winning and defending his super middleweight titles with unanimous points victories over John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga, and William Scull. At thirty-four, with a sixty-seven-fight career, is Alvarez nearing the end? Of course he is. He has made hundreds of millions dismantling and knocking out opponents, but his devastating power seems to have diminished—particularly at super middleweight as the years have gone by. Crawford will be thirty-eight on fight night, but he has had far fewer fights, less wear and tear, and eleven stoppage wins heading into his most recent bout with the tough Madrimov—so he will be the fresher fighter. Since 2021, Crawford has fought five times with four stoppage wins. Alvarez has fought ten times, and seven of those went the distance. There is talk among boxing insiders that Crawford will be too small for super middleweight. That is absolute nonsense. Alvarez is 5’8” with a 70.5" wingspan. Crawford is 5’8” with a 74" wingspan. This fight is about who can adapt better to the man in front of him. Experience is with Alvarez. Skill is with Crawford. The Fight Alvarez and Crawford have been fighting and training for years. Who has less wear and tear? Crawford has 31 stoppage wins and has been a dominating force since 2008. Alvarez has 39 stoppage wins, but his last TKO was in 2021 at super middleweight. Will Crawford bring his power up two weight divisions? Probably not. To win, Crawford needs to box and move, and stay off the ropes. The jab is key—use it, double it up. Crawford has rhythm, balance, and movement, and he can switch effortlessly from southpaw to orthodox. He is the superior boxer—and he can punch. Can he hurt Alvarez? Yes. Can he stop Alvarez? No. Alvarez is a pressure fighter—a fantastic, machine-like sharpshooter. Will he take advantage of Crawford’s slow-start tactic? Can he outbox Crawford? The answer is no. Will Crawford make him grow old and weary in the fight? Yes. Crawford by unanimous decision in this battle of champions. Gary Todd is an international best-selling author. He has been involved in all aspects of the sport of boxing for decades. Look out for his latest book—coming October 2025. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Gary Todd.  |
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