Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford will finally do battle later this year.
The two pound-for-pound greats will collide in September, with ‘Bud’ making an ambitious step up to 168lbs to challenge Canelo for his undisputed super-middleweight titles.
There have been many predictions from some of boxing’s biggest names on the fight, especially after Canelo’s recent victory over William Scull, with the Mexican superstar receiving some criticism for his lacklustre performance.
One man that has now offered a new take is legendary boxing figure Teddy Atlas, who told Slingo that he believes Canelo could have been overrated and that Crawford will come out on top.
“Like Marvin Hagler said to me one time, ‘Teddy, it’s hard to get up and do roadwork at five in the morning when you’ve been sleeping in silk sheets.’ The great Marvin Hagler, he was right.
Did Canelo not fight with urgency because he’s made so much money? That’s a possibility. Maybe. Here’s a tough one, his is where they kill me: Was he overrated?
Did we overrate him? He’s a hell of a fighter. He’s a damn good fighter. But you know, if you look at it with a microscope I thought he lost the first Triple G fight. I thought he lost the second one – okay, that was different, closer. I thought he might have lost to Erislandy Lara, actually.”
Atlas then went on to discuss Canelo’s first career defeat, which came at the hands of Floyd Mayweather.
“He lost to Mayweather. He’s beaten a lot of guys, like everyone has, but he’s beaten a lot of guys where he was the bigger man, where he had the right to kind of pick who he wanted because he brought the money.
“He has that right. He’s the pay-per-view king. He had the right to pick guys who maybe had to fight him, who were smaller or older, because that’s how they were going to make the money.
“Was he a little overrated? I don’t know. But I think he’s a heck of a fighter. He’s got a heck of a legacy.
“I still stick with my pick. I’m picking Crawford, like I did before this fight. I’m picking Crawford to win, even being, obviously, the smaller man.”
The fight between Canelo and Crawford has gone through some changes in recent weeks, with it announced that Sela will now be the new promoter for the event.
