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Promoter Oscar De La Hoya doubts Terence Crawford will have the ability to defeat unified tremendous middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez when he strikes up two divisions to problem him for his belts on September thirteenth. De La Hoya states {that a} “good little man” has “never beat a good big man.”
(Credit score: Melanie Pizano/Matchroom)
Fighters who’ve overwhelmed larger guys:
Sugar Ray Robinson
Roy Jones Jr.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Manny Pacquiao
Too Huge a Leap?
It’s robust for Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to perform that feat as a result of he’ll basically be shifting up three weight lessons after a lackluster efficiency in his debut at 154 final August in opposition to Israil Madrimov. That struggle was shut sufficient to be a draw, however the judges gave it to Crawford, and you may perceive why. He was the A-side.
Crawford’s reluctance to struggle at 160 or 168 to remain busy and show himself is another excuse he’s not going to beat Canelo. Terence clearly sparred with fighters in these weight lessons and is aware of it will be a foul thought for him to compete in opposition to a kind of killers earlier than getting his massive mega-million struggle in opposition to Canelo.
“I’ve been in this game for such a long time, and I like to say I’m a historian. There’s never been a good little man that beats a good big man. It hasn’t happened,” stated Oscar De La Hoya to Fighthype when requested about his ideas on whether or not Terence Crawford can transfer up two weight lessons to defeat Canelo Alvarez at tremendous middleweight.
“The exception is maybe Pacquiao beating me, but that situation was totally different. I was at the end of my career, I was a shot fighter, and Pacquiao was coming up, and he beat me. But a good little man, which is Crawford, has never beat a good big man, which would be Canelo in the history of the sport.”
What’s the Motive?
Clearly, quite a few fighters have moved up a number of divisions to defeat larger fighters previously. What makes Crawford’s job extra problematic for him is his superior age, inactivity, and lack of punching energy. Bud can be 38 in September; he seems to be it. Furthermore, Crawford has solely been preventing yearly since 2020 and can be coming off a 13-month layoff.
A fighter can get away with that type of inactivity once they’re youthful or preventing lesser opposition, however once they become old and so they transfer up and struggle somebody good, they lose. Perhaps Crawford doesn’t care if he will get overwhelmed. He’s been upfront about one of many explanation why he needs to struggle Alvarez so badly. It’s the cash.
The Nebraska native Crawford can’t make wherever close to the identical type of dough preventing at 154, and a few guys in that weight class would knock chips off him. Guys like Bakhram Murtazaliev, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Sebastian Fundora, and Serhii Bohachuk would age Crawford. If he’s solely preventing yearly, he’d by no means get round to struggle even half of these guys earlier than he’s overwhelmed into retirement.
“Greatest Ever?”
“If Crawford can do it, give this man the title of ‘the greatest ever.’ That’s in all probability the motivation for Crawford and his coach. ‘Look, if you can beat Canelo, you can go down as one of the historical best fighters on the planet.’ That’s sufficient motivation for any fighter. I simply don’t see it as a fighter.
“Canelo is a big puncher. Yeah, he walks on quicksand, and that’s one thing that Crawford can use against him. The pressure of a heavier guy. Canelo will be 200 pounds up in that ring. So, it’s a tough fight, but I give all the credit to Crawford if he pulls that one off,” stated De La Hoya.
Is Canelo Fading?
De La Hoya goes overboard with what Crawford would accomplish if he have been to beat the soon-to-be 35-year-old Canelo Alvarez. Terence wouldn’t be the “greatest ever” if he defeated Canelo as a result of the Mexican star has been fading for the final three years and hasn’t taken a troublesome struggle since 2022.
If Crawford beats this light model of Canelo, he’d have solely overwhelmed a shopworn man that will have possible misplaced many occasions if he’d fought the highest 168-pounders as an alternative of avoiding them. Canelo has swerved former tremendous middleweights David Benavidez and David Morrell, and he’s clearly avoiding the highest 168-lb contenders now.
A victory for Crawford in opposition to Alvarez would solely show what educated boxing followers already know: Canelo is over the hill. That’s why he doesn’t wish to struggle the true killers at 168 and why he prevented Benavidez and Morrell once they have been within the division.
