Sergey Kovalev has shared his thoughts on Terence Crawford‘s chances of defeating Canelo Alvarez when they clash next month.
In what should be the toughest test of his accomplished professional career, ‘Bud’ Crawford is set to make the move up to 168lbs for the first time, having spent his recent years at 147 and competing just once at 154 last year.
Canelo has established himself as the best super-middleweight on the planet in recent years, defeating the likes of Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant since he made the move up from middleweight back in 2018.
One man that has experienced the thunderous punching power of Canelo – who had moved up in weight himself – first hand is former unified light-heavyweight champion Kovalev, who was stopped in the penultimate round of his 2019 showdown with the Mexican.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Kovalev praised Crawford’s skills and talked up his chances in the fight, his verdict can be summed up in four words: “It’s too much weight.”
“Terence Crawford, great fighter, huge respect to him. I think he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter. But if he will move up… He can beat Canelo, but I don’t know how he will be comfortable in his division … For a fight, every boxer should be losing weight for speed, lightness, movement. It’s no good for Crawford. But I know and I see that he can get the win.
Canelo will keep his hands up and walk him down. Crawford is very smart, but nobody knows how he will feel at super-middleweight. It’s too much weight. I did a fight at 200 pounds, I wasn’t light-heavy, I was slow. It’s not comfortable. I think Crawford will be the same heavier. If he will be in his weight, he will beat Canelo.”
Should he beat Canelo, ‘Bud’ will become the first man to have captured all four belts in three divisions.
