A former sparring partner of Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford has shared an honest verdict on the upcoming ‘mega-fight’ between the legendary duo.
‘Bud’ Crawford is set to make his first appearance at super-middleweight when he faces the Mexican icon next month, having been campaigning at welterweight as recently as July 2023 when he defeated Errol Spence to claim all four world titles at 147lbs. He has fought once at 154lbs since, beating Israil Madrimov over the distance to end an eleven-fight KO streak.
Since Canelo made the move up to 168lbs back in 2018, the Mexican superstar has become the undisputed world champion on two occasions, the most recent of those reigns beginning in May when he defeated William Scull. He has not scored a stoppage since 2021 against Caleb Plant.
One man who has experience sparring both Canelo and Crawford is Kyrone Davis, a middleweight fighter who has previously shared the ring with David Benavidez and Anthony Dirrell.
Speaking to Mill City Boxing, Davis, shared his thoughts on the ‘super-fight’ and answers whether he believe it will end in a knockout for either man.
“I don’t think that [Crawford] can hurt him with one punch. Maybe he can cut an eye, or something. Maybe bother him to the body. Those are the things he would have to do. He has to get some flesh on them gloves and go to that body. It’s gonna be a tall, tall task.”
“Canelo can really fight. He’s got moves, he got traps, he can throw every punch … Can Canelo stop [Crawford]? I think so. He’s a bigger guy, one punch can do it. But I wouldn’t see either guy stopping each guy. I think Canelo wins the decision, because Crawford does some things in there to keep it even. He know how to do some things to limit some things that you know how to do well but I think it’ll be a little bit too much. I don’t think he’d be able to generate enough offence to win rounds when there’s that much heat coming at him.”
Whilst he is faced with the toughest test of his career against a man who has always been natural bigger and stronger than him, Crawford is once again daring to be great and could write his name into boxing history becoming the first male three-weight undisputed championship should he be victorious next month.
