Teddy Atlas is the latest to weigh in on the Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez vs Terence Crawford match-up.
Though Canelo has a unification bout in May against William Scull, it is reported that a fight with fellow four-weight world champion Crawford is already set for September in Las Vegas.
Should that go ahead as planned, Crawford will be moving up two weight classes from his last outing in an attempt to be the first man to defeat Alvarez in the super-middleweight division.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine Podcast, Atlas first assessed the size difference and Crawford’s performance at super-welterweight against Israil Madrimov in August of last year.
“You can make arguments both sides. ‘Canelo’s too big, and Crawford, as good as he is, he stepped up with Madrimov and struggled a little bit’ … We didn’t know how good Madrimov was, we underestimated him and we started to knock down Crawford a little bit because the expectations were so high, but that’s wrong.
“People are gonna say he had trouble with a 154 pound guy when he went up from welterweight and now he’s going up to 168. ‘Teddy, come on, how you gonna make an argument?”
The famed trainer and analyst then flipped it, highlighting Crawford’s potential advantages in the fight.
“You make an argument through this, the history of the sport where little guys have been able to beat big guys.
“You reverse who’s got the advantage, yeah the size and power of Canelo, then all of a sudden you go back and you say wait a minute, the other guy’s faster, the other guy’s craftier, the other guy has more options, is slicker. Maybe he’s got the advantages.”
As for a prediction, Atlas’ final praise of ‘Bud’ Crawford shows he is leaning the way of the American come fight night in Las Vegas.
“I’m one of the people that thinks Crawford is very, very special. I’m not saying Canelo’s not, but I think Crawford is special in a different way.
“He’s got instincts that not everyone has. The timing, the x factor, the intangibles, and I think they’re gonna show themselves. And I can’t wait. I can’t wait to see a smaller guy use those x factors to beat a bigger guy. I always wanted to see David and Goliath live, didn’t you? Well get ready to watch it.”
