Crawford's tunnel vision driving force in landing Canelo mega fight
With Alvarez coming around and backing from Alalshikh, Crawford challenges for undisputed super middleweight title on Saturday
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After Terence Crawford destroyed Errol Spence Jr., dropping him three times in a shockingly one-sided ninth-round knockout to become the undisputed welterweight champion in their long-awaited fight in July 2023 there still loomed the prospect of an immediate rematch despite the one-sided nature of the bout.
Spence invoked his right to a second bout, which would have been at junior middleweight, but it took months for the situation to play out, including delays when Spence suffered an eye injury and concerns from organizers that the fight was so one-sided that public interest in a rematch would be tepid and it would be a financial disaster. In the end, the window for the rematch closed and Crawford became a promotional and broadcast free agent and was free to move on.
Already a consensus top three — at worst — pound-for-pound fighter, and a three-division champion, Crawford had unified the four 147-pound titles to become a two-division undisputed champion, having also collected the four major belts at junior welterweight. So the prevailing question became what’s next?
With Spence, who has not fought since, handily defeated, there was no major fight for Crawford at welterweight. He would have been a massive favorite over anyone coming up from junior welterweight. And while there was plenty of talent at junior middleweight there was not that big-name dance partner that excited him.
Crawford, who has always dreamed big as fighter, turned his attention to Canelo Alvarez, the super middleweight champion, a fellow future Hall of Famer and boxing’s biggest star.
Crawford was prepared to move up two weight classes and to do so with out a catch weight or any re-hydration limit. Many laughed at the notion, believing Crawford was too small for the Mexican icon, who had gone up as high as light heavyweight and won a world title.
Alvarez didn’t necessarily laugh at the idea of fighting Crawford but he was asked about it time and again routinely dismissed it. Crawford, however, had an ally and fan in power broker Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, which was sinking nine figures into boxing. Alalshikh had become the most influential force in the sport and had the funds available to make any fight he wanted.
Now, 26 months after Crawford pummeled Spence and became interested in facing Alvarez, the fight is here. On Mexican Independence Day weekend, a traditional time for a major Mexican fight, Crawford will indeed move up two divisions and challenge Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight title in the main event of the Zuffa Boxing card backed by Alalshikh on Saturday (Netflix, 9 p.m. ET) at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Once it was clear there would be no Spence rematch, Crawford really began to get serious about trying to get Alvarez into the ring.
