Canelo Alvarez has never shied from a big fight, but he more than faced his match last time out against Terence Crawford.
Canelo went into the contest as a long-reigning super middleweight champion who had become undisputed in his previous fight with a win over William Scull.
Crawford, however, was a four-weight world champion who had been undisputed at light welterweight and welterweight. After beating Canelo on points over 12 rounds, he became only the second male boxer in history to become a three-weight undisputed ruler.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Canelo reflected on his fight with ‘Bud’ back in September 2025.
“Things happened I cannot really control. I know what I did bad. I did everything I could in the training camp but my mind wasn’t there. I feel like I wasn’t there, thinking about other things.
“A lot of things happened during fight week. I did everything good in the camp. I always train very hard, but it’s not just that. You can be physically ready, but if your mind isn’t there, it’s not the same.
“Everything is because my mind wasn’t there… I just cannot tell you how that happened. I need to learn about what happened. I’m not trying to victimise myself or say, ‘I should’ve done this.’ It’s already happened.
“I need to move forward, right, and just make sure it doesn’t happen again. No doubting [myself] but I just feel like I wasn’t there. It’s a very strange feeling. “
Finally, he was asked if Crawford was better than he expected him to be.
“No, but he’s a good fighter.”
Crawford retired last year with an undefeated record and a total of 18 different world championships in five weight classes. Canelo, who is now 36 and a veteran of 68 fights, with 63 wins, returns to the ring against super middleweight champion Christin Mbilli in October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
