Terence Crawford has been sent a stern warning by a former opponent ahead of his mega-fight with Canelo Alvarez.
It was revealed shortly after Canelo’s victory over former IBF super-middleweight champion William Scull on May 2 that the Mexican superstar will defend his undisputed championship against Crawford at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 12.
‘Bud’ Crawford was in attendance to witness Canelo’s history making victory over Scull in Riyadh, which saw him became the first fighter in boxing history to twice achieve undisputed status at 168lbs within the ‘four belt era’.
As Crawford prepares for what is undoubtedly the toughest test of his professional career, a former rival of Canelo’s has sent a word of warning to the four-division world champion.
Speaking to FastSlots, retired former world champion Amir Khan claimed he was ‘never the same’ after facing Alvarez back in 2016, as he claims the Mexican icon is the best fighter on the planet.
“He’s pound for pound the best fighter in the world. I was never the same fighter again after facing Canelo. You can get knocked down, fine, you can get back up again, but the knockout Canelo gave me, it probably took five years off my life.
“I was at the peak of my career and never came back as the same fighter again. I wasn’t gun-shy or scared, but that one shot, it wasn’t good for the body or the mind. And it changed my opponent’s strategy for fighting me, they all started to try to land that one big shot.”
Khan was suffered a sixth round knockout defeat to Canelo when he stepped up to challenge him for his WBC middleweight title back in May 2016.
The Brit started the contest positively, but the power proved to be too much for him going into the middle rounds and he found himself on the end of one of Canelo’s monstrous right hands which closed the show.
