It won’t be easy, but undisputed welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 40-0 (31) has the skillset to spring the upset on undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) if they ever fought, according to International Boxing Hall of Famer Tim Bradley.
Mexican superstar Alvarez, 33, is fresh off his dominant points win over former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo 35-2-1 (19) in Las Vegas on Saturday. The scores were 119-108 and 118-109 twice.
Undefeated three-weight world champion Crawford, 36, of Omaha, Nebraska scored a breakout win over Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-1 (22) by ninth-round knockout in Las Vegas in July.
Talk of the switch-hitting Crawford jumping up three weight classes to face Alvarez has cooled somewhat after the Guadalajara native’s victory over Charlo, but former world champion turned pundit Bradley still sees some intrigue in the potential bout.
“That’s tough,” Bradley said of Crawford’s chances against Alvarez to FightHype. “We know Canelo can be outboxed, but the size difference is what’s scary about that fight.
“If Crawford can’t hurt him, if Crawford can’t stop him from coming forward, and Crawford’s great at exposing high guards. He knows how to come underneath and come around. He knows how to set traps for his opponents and I think he’ll be able to lay a lot of traps for Canelo.
“I think he’ll give him a lot more issues and problems than Charlo, no doubt about it, because of the mentality and he would come to win. I just wonder whether can he take Canelo’s punch, and can he stay away from Canelo’s punch, and can he absorb the punishment that he’s going to get and have to go through.
“Canelo will close a distance on him and Canelo will hit him and will pound on him. Now Crawford, I think, has the skills, but again, the size. That size. The weight classes are there for a reason.
“Crawford definitely would dare to be great. I think he has the skill set to beat a Canelo. If they were the same size, pound-for-pound, Crawford’s skill set is better than Canelo’s, in my opinion.
“Now, they’re not the same size and that’s where the difficulty comes. I think that’s daring to be great for Crawford because his skillset outmatches Canelo’s. It would be a 30% chance, 40% chance because, again, that weight.
“I believe in my man Crawford. I think he’s different. I’ve never seen anything like him in the sport as long as I lived. I could say that, but that’s tough, it’s tough.
“Crawford’s a winner, Crawford won’t come and lay down, and Crawford will definitely go out on the shield, no doubt about it. But Canelo’s got other guys he can fry, that he needs to fry before Crawford gets a shot.”
