Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez pushed Terence Crawford during the face off portion of their latest press conference in New York.
The Mexican icon and his American challenger had been respectful to the point of friendly since the fight was announced, portraying mutual respect and an eagerness to impress fans come September 13 in Las Vegas.
It was to be expected from the pair of four-weight world champions, who are not known for trash talk or mind games pre-fight, rather doing their talking in the ring. Crawford, who will move up two divisions from his last outing for the fight, has been confident but not to the point of arrogance. Canelo, too, has admitted that it will be one of his toughest fights, even despite welcoming ‘Bud’ to a division in which he has been so dominant.
The respect briefly went out the window in New York when Canelo shoved Crawford, who was edging closer and closer to him, when they came head to head.
When the pair were separated, they came back together for media photos and exchanged words. Alvarez told Crawford that he would remember what had just happened, prompting the challenger to reply, “you’re going to remember,” before adding, “I want you to remember. That’s the whole purpose.”
The mic'd up moment after Canelo shoved Crawford 👀🗣️#CrawfordCanelo live on Netflix | Sept 13th in Las Vegas 🥊 pic.twitter.com/RLn44a0IYH
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 22, 2025
Crawford did appear to know what he was doing in order to force a reaction from Canelo and, paired with those words, will lead to many fans feeling he will be looking to gain the upper hand pre-fight by getting the undisputed super-middleweight champion to fight on emotion.
It will be task easier said than done given Canelo is 68 fights deep into his campaign and one of the coolest operators in the sport. The pair fight on September 13 a the Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas.
