Claressa Shields has shared her final thoughts on the impending clash between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
The stage is set for Mexican icon Canelo to defend his undisputed super-middleweight championship against ‘Bud’ Crawford at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
‘Bud’ is gearing up to make the move up to 168lbs for the first time in his career, with his last outing coming at super-welterweight when he dethroned WBA champion Israil Madrimov in August of 2024.
Canelo has dominated at super-middleweight since he jumped up from 160lbs back in 2018, defeating the likes of Gennady Golovkin, Jermell Charlo and Callum Smith along the way whilst becoming a two-time undisputed champion in the process.
Someone else who knows a thing or two about become undisputed is Shields, who has managed it in three divisions, something Crawford is looking to achieve himself this weekend.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, Shields admitted that whilst she believes Canelo is a ‘legend of boxing’, she is actually backing Crawford to get the job done against the Mexican great.
“Honestly, I feel like Canelo shows up when he wants to show up but I think that Terence Crawford is a dog, I think that he’s a great fighter, he has good defence and offence. The weight class may be challenging but I don’t think it’ll be the decision maker of the fight.
“I think that Terence Crawford is the better fighter but I think that Canelo is like a legend so I look forward to seeing him fight and I’m going to pick Terence Crawford to win, it’s going to be tough though.”
Shields isn’t the only big name that believes that Crawford is capable of achieving the victory, with former two-weight world champion Tim Bradley also backing ‘Bud’ to come out on top.
