Canelo Alvarez‘s showdown with Terence Crawford is less than two months away.
Two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world will meet when Crawford steps up two weight divisions to challenge Alvarez for his undisputed super-middleweight titles at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 13.
Some onlookers believe that it will prove to be too big a step up for Crawford, and now one of Canelo’s previous opponents has weighed in with his take.
Former WBO super-welterweight champion Liam Smith met Alvarez back in September 2016, with the Mexican claiming a ninth round stoppage victory.
Smith has now told First Round TV how he sees September’s mega-fight going, believing that Crawford’s performance against Israil Madrimov last August shows that he is going to struggle to compete with Canelo.
“A good fight but I think Canelo is just too big, too solid. He’s shorter than me, it’s crazy, but he’s solid. We saw it when he fought Charlo, he’ll stalk him and just be too big. A lot of people are not looking at Madrimov. We saw Crawford struggle at 154. Madrimov is a poor man’s Canelo if that makes sense.
“Crawford could look good in rounds, especially early, but I just think Canelo will stalk him and the pressure, he’s just too solid and too big. It’s at 168. If they gave Crawford a fight at 147 next he can make it. Anybody fighting at 147 shouldn’t be anywhere near 168.”
Smith finished by saying how he thinks Canelo will be victorious.
“Probably points.”
One man who knows Crawford extremely well is Top Rank CEO Bob Arum after promoting the American for a number of years, and he has also given his verdict on how the upcoming battle will go.
