Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford are set to clash in a dream-fight later this year.
‘Bud’ Crawford is preparing to step up two weight divisions to challenge the Mexican superstar who holds the unified WBC, WBA and WBO titles at super middleweight.
The 37-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska captured the WBA super-welterweight title from Israil Madrimov last August, but has raised the bar for himself even higher as he prepares to take on Canelo, who has been a dominant force at 168lbs for just shy of five years.
The Mexican icon held the undisputed super middleweight championship up until last summer, before he was stripped of his IBF crown after refusing to face mandatory challenger William Scull, opting to face Edgar Berlanga Jr instead.
The 34-year-old was initially reluctant to go ahead with a fight against ‘Bud’, but appears to have made a U-turn on this decision.
Speaking to FightHub TV, Errol Spence Jr, who fell short to Crawford in their undisputed welterweight championship contest two years ago, has given his backing to his former opponent.
“It could happen, I mean why not? If Crawford wants to challenge himself to be great then let him try to be great you know, so I’m with it.
I’ll be going for ‘Bud’ if he fights Canelo, I’ll be going for him. I don’t know if he’s going to win or lose but I’ll definitely be going for Crawford. I think if anybody can pull it off he can pull it off.
Canelo went up to 175 and fought Kovalev and fought the other guy [Bivol] too, so if he can do it, and he started at 147.”
The contest between Canelo and Crawford looks set to take place this September, with the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas emerging as the preferred venue.
