Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez has a fight this weekend against Edgar Berlanga, but he can’t escape questions about Terence Crawford and David Benavidez.
The Mexican will defend three of the four major super-middleweight belts having been stripped of one earlier in the year, but many in the sport feel that it should be Benavidez or Crawford in the opposite corner.
Despite pressure from fans and media, Canelo has remained relaxed about both match-ups, always stating that he will consider them if the money is right but remaining adamant they do nothing for his legacy.
It appears he feels that particularly with Crawford, who recently joined Canelo in the four-weight world champion club. Prior to that, the American had a career-defining win over Errol Spence Jr – the one opponent Canelo believes is worth talking about on a 40-fight record, via TMZ.
“Look, I always say I respect Terence Crawford. He’s a very talented fighter. But he’s just one big fight. If you see his record, he’s just beat one good fighter – Errol Spence. Other than that, I don’t think he’s beat another great fighter like Spence. He did a really good job with Spence, it almost looked very easy. I knew Terence Crawford is a great fighter.”
Crawford has been champion at lightweight, super-lightweight, welterweight and now super-welterweight, with those middle two divisions being undisputed runs. On his way to the top of the pound-for-pound list, he beat the likes of Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, Julius Indongo, Viktor Postol and Ricky Burns. None of which particularly impress Canelo.
Still, he said in the interview he remains open to the fight, if a little indifferent about it.
“You never know in boxing, we’ll see in the future.”
Many in the sport believe Crawford will retire if he can’t land the fight with Canelo.
