Bob Arum has summed up Terence Crawford’s chances of defeating Canelo Alvarez via stoppage when they clash later this year.
The pound-for-pound superstars are set to do battle for the undisputed super-middleweight championship on Saturday September 13 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
‘Bud’ Crawford is set to make the jump up to 168lbs for the first time, having spent the majority of his glittering professional career campaigning at welterweight, where he became undisputed champion with a victory over Errol Spence Jr two-years-ago.
Mexican icon Canelo began his second reign as undisputed champion at 168lbs on May 3 when he defeated Cuba’s William Scull via unanimous decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In an interview with The Ring Magazine, legendary promoter Bob Arum summed up Crawford’s chances of beating Canelo inside the distance, as he claims he has the power to end the fight early but expects the Mexican great to go ‘into a shell’ to avoid running the risk of suffering the first stoppage defeat of his career.
“I think Crawford will win a wide decision. It’ll either be a knockout or a wide decision, more likely a wide decision because Canelo is gonna go into a shell. People don’t realise how far back Canelo has gone. It wasn’t just the last fight [with William Scull], but the fights before then.”
The unbeaten American could be on the verge of writing his name into the boxing history books, as victory over Canelo would see him become the first male fighter to win an undisputed championship in three weight classes, having already achieved this at super-lightweight and welterweight respectively.
