Hall of Famer Andre Ward has shared his final thoughts on the upcoming ‘super-fight’ between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
‘Bud’ Crawford will make his first appearance at 168lbs when he clashes with the Mexican icon, having spent almost the entirety of his career campaigning at welterweight where he became the undisputed champion with a victory over Errol Spence Jr in July of 2023.
Canelo has been a dominant force at super-middleweight since making the move up from 160lbs back in 2018, defeating the likes of Callum Smith, Jaime Munguia and Gennady Golovkin along the way.
Another man who knows what it is like to be dominant at 168lbs is Ward, who defeated fighters such as Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler and Arthur Abraham at super-middleweight before ending his career with back-to-back wins over Sergey Kovalev at light heavyweight.
Posting on social media, Ward shared his verdict ahead of the impending clash between Canelo and Crawford, as he admits that whilst the Mexican icon has a significant ‘ring presence’, he believes ‘Bud’ is one of the ‘greatest finishers of all time’.
“One of Canelo’s greatest strengthens is his ring presence. Even when he’s resting he’s coming forward looking as if he’s in control. This has the ability to unnerve and drain his opponents because they feel like they can never rest.
“Terence Crawford is one of the greatest finishers of this era and one of the greatest finishers of all-time. If he gets you badly hurt, he’s going to finish you.”
“They both can box but that’s not really what they want to do, they want to inflict damage. When they do box they are either resting, regrouping or getting into position for what they really want to do: land a shot that is going to change the course of the fight or end the night … Both Canelo and Crawford will have to deal with one another’s power – and I’m not going to argue about [that].”
Whilst fans and analysts around the world have expressed their concerns about the significant weight and size advantage between Canelo and Crawford, it’s no secret that the intriguing clash of styles has all the makings of what could be one of the ‘fights of the year’.
