Crawford’s performance in Postol: a look at Canelo’s fall?

Trainer Stephen Edwards believes Terence Crawford has enough size, power, conditioning and technical skills to move up to 168 and defeat unified super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.

Edwards believes Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) couldn’t beat David Benavidez, David Morrell, Artur Beterbiev or Dmitry Bivol. Those guys are too big and too technical for the 37-year-old Crawford. But 34-year-old Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) is starting to show signs of age and is beatable for Crawford.

Vulnerable Champion

Canelo will turn 35 on July 18 and has failed to knock out his last six opponents. His last knockout was three years ago against Caleb Plant on November 6, 2021.

The Mexican star has not indicated that he will fight Crawford and will not accept the fight unless he feels he can win. His net worth is estimated at $250 million. So any money Turki Alalshikh could offer Alvarez wouldn’t entice him to take the fight with Crawford unless he wanted to. He already has enough money to live rich for 20 lifetimes, and can continue to make many millions per fight, facing easy opposition.

“Yes, I think he can go up to 168 and fight certain people. Do I think he can fight Benavidez or Morrell? No, they are too big, too skilled and too tall. “That would be a lot to overcome,” Stephen Edwards told fighttalking about Terence Crawford being too small to fight Benavidez or Morrell at super middleweight.

“Canelo comes from the smaller weights and is the same height as Crawford. In fact, I think Crawford is a little taller. Crawford’s arms are much longer and he has a much better gas tank. I’ve never seen Crawford tired.

“Canelo lets the guys free nowadays that when he was on his best streak, he usually stopped them. Now, you’re freeing them up because you don’t have that extra oomph in your gas tank. If Bud fought Canelo at 168, Bud would be loaded with calories. I could eat whatever I wanted at any time of the day,” Edwards said.

Crawford is also aging quite a bit, at 37, and nearly lost his debut at 154 against Israil Madrimov on August 3. He won’t be able to win rounds against Canelo with the weak shots he was throwing at Madrimov. Those punches seemed weak compared to when he fought at 147, 140 and 135.

The judges will give Canelo the rounds against Crawford, even if he has worked better. If Canelo’s shots are much harder, he will win the rounds. Crawford doesn’t hit as hard as Jermell Charlo or Erislandy Lara, and those guys were outpowered against Canelo.

Genius at work?

“Their energy levels would be out of danger. He’ll probably step into the ring at 159 or 160 pounds. You don’t need to get to 168 just because that’s the weight limit. He needs to be quick in that fight,” Edwards said of Crawford.

“I told (Crawford), ‘That fight you fought that night (against Viktor Postol at 140, eight years ago, July 23, 2016), that’s the fight that could beat Canelo.’ He kind of smiled. I think Bud is a genius, and sometimes when you’re a genius, you don’t know you are. “He has the ability to make adjustments in fights.”

The fight against Viktor Postol was a long time ago, when Crawford was 28 years old. He is now 37 years old and does not look as young, fast or mobile as he did in the Postol fight. Crawford has aged. So comparing this version of Crawford to the one who fought Postol to use it as an argument for why he will beat Canelo makes no sense. That version of Crawford no longer exists.

That was another person. If he were a monster puncher like Artur Beterbiev, it wouldn’t be a big deal if Crawford isn’t as young as he once was. He is not a big puncher and wins his fights thanks to his speed, reflexes and boxing skills. That won’t be enough in his current physical state to beat Canelo, and the judges won’t do him any favors.

“I don’t think I can beat guys like Bivol and Beterbiev. “I think that’s a bit much, but Canelo,” Edwards said. “He’s a great fighter, but my eyes tell me he’s slowing down a little bit. The Canelo who fought against Berlanga. Three years ago, Canelo knocked out Berlanga. That’s not a fight. That is a public execution.

“The fact that he let Berlanga go to the end. He let Munguía go to the end. He let Charlo go to the end. Bud’s movement, conditioning and strength. Bud is a lot stronger than people think. I’m not saying he’s stronger than Canelo. It is strong enough. It’s not a weightlifting competition,” Edwards said.