Legendary trainer Abel Sanchez has weighed in on the upcoming mega-fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
The pound-for-pound stars are set to face one another later this year in what has been describe as one of the biggest fights in boxing history.
‘Bud’ Crawford is bidding to become a five-weight world champion when he clashes with the Mexican icon, although he is tasked with moving up two whole weight classes in the process.
Canelo has dominated the 168lb division since moving up from middleweight seven years ago. In that time, the 34-year-old from Guadalajara defeated the likes of Gennady Golovkin, Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia, becoming the undisputed champion when he beat Caleb Plant in 2021.
One man who knows a thing or two about facing Canelo, albeit from a different perspective, is Golovkin’s former trainer Abel Sanchez, who worked with ‘GGG’ in his first two encounters with the Mexican star.
In an interview with Boxing News, Sanchez had his say on Canelo’s upcoming battle with Crawford, claiming the weight difference will play a huge part.
“Yeah, it’s two different people. Yes, Crawford will gain the weight, yes he will be probably around 163 in fight time but Canelo’s a bigger man, Canelo has taken shots from big guys and nobody has done anything to him so I don’t think this fight should happen, I’ve said it all along, the money was there for both of them so it’s being made, but it’s not a fight I would pay to see.”
Sanchez was then asked if he believes the Mexican superstar will get an ’emphatic’ stoppage victory over the 37-year-old.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Before he turns his attention to ‘Bud’, Canelo is pencilled in to face IBF super middleweight champion William Scull in Riyadh on May 3, as he sets his sights on becoming a two-time undisputed champion at 168lbs.
