Andrade: Terence Crawford “is no match for Canelo”

Demetrius Andrade believes Canelo Alvarez is too big, strong and technical for Terence Crawford to move up to super middleweight and challenge him for his three titles the way he is fighting.

Too big, too strong

Former two-division world champion Andrade feels there is too much size for the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to move up two weight classes from 154 to have a chance of defeating the WBA’s 168 WBC and WBO. Canelo, pound champion (62-2-2, 39 KOs).

Nebraska native Crawford is campaigning to move up to 168 to fight Canelo first without any experience in the weight class. He just wants to be given the world title shot without having to beat the top contenders waiting in line, like David Morrell, David Benavidez, Christian Mbilli and Diego Pacheco.

There would be no problem if Terence was willing to earn the title shot by beating those four fighters in front of him, but he doesn’t want to do that. He wants Canelo to correct him based on his credentials from what he did in the other weight classes.

If you look at Crawford’s resume, there isn’t much to look at other than beating Errol Spence to a car crash and injury. The other semi-decent win on Crawford’s resume was against Israil Madrimov, but he almost lost to him and looked poor, eating right hands all night.

Crawford moved up to 154 last summer on August 3 and scored a narrow 12-round unanimous decision victory over Madrimov. That was a fight Terence could have easily lost if Madrimov had put his foot on the gas in the final three rounds by choosing to throw potshots. Even in defeat, Madrimov made Crawford look old and made it clear that he had reached his ceiling. You can’t go from 154 to 160 or 168 without losing.

Canelo’s advantages

“Yes, I think so. I love Crawford. He is a good friend and we grew closer to each other. But when it comes to weight and power, that shit is real,” Demetrius Andrade told Fight Hub TV when asked if Canelo Alvarez is too big for Terence Crawford.

“Skills too. Canelo is not easy to convince. Look what he did to the girl, (Jermell) Charlo. Charlo was the big bad wolf and escaped from a couple of hooks all night. Canelo threw a couple of hooks and ran all night. Where is that (the intensity and bravery)? Let’s fight.

“I think Crawford has the skills, but when it comes to taking shots and blocking them, powerful shots, and Canelo also knows how to move. He has agility. It’s not like a robot. It’s going to be hard. My opinion is my opinion. “I don’t think Crawford can beat Canelo,” Andrade said.

Crawford is too small to fight at 168 against Canelo. The fight would be all about money, and would be similar to when Canelo defended his super middleweight title against Jermell Charlo last year in September. Jermell moved up from 154 and received a title shot against Canelo without proving himself.

He ran all night after feeling Canelo’s power in the first round, and fans felt cheated afterwards. It was a joke. Had Jermell attempted to prove himself by fighting Benavidez or Morrell, he would have been eliminated in a one-sided loss or knockout, and fans would not have been shortchanged by seeing him come to Canelo. In the real world, Crawford would have to earn the title shot against Canelo like other contenders, but he’s looking for a shortcut to the big payday. It’s pathetic and bad for the sport.

“Do I think he can give him a good fight? “I’ll be sitting there supporting Crawford all day,” Andrade said of Crawford. “I’m always going to bet on black, always, but the reality is that Canelo knows how to fight. He knows how to go big and he knows how to hit hard shots.

“He’s also a technical guy. Look what he did to Callum Smith: hitting his elbows, hitting his arms, hitting all those other types of things. He’s going to use those same tactics on a smaller guy (Crawford). I’m just saying. I’m just talking about real boxing facts. “I’m not trying to be in this fantasy world because that’s not what I’m in,” Andrade said.