Canelo vs. Crawford: Clash of Titans on Mexican Independence Day Weekend
The weekend of Mexican Independence Day, traditionally one of the most important in boxing, is preparing for a stellar event. On this occasion, the expected clash between the Mexican icon, Canelo Álvarez, and the former undisputed champion in two divisions, Terence Crawford, promises to be a historic moment in the ring.
The fight, scheduled for Saturday at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and broadcast by Netflix, will put Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight championship on the line. This bout is a rare opportunity to see two of the current top ten pound-for-pound boxers go head-to-head.
The event, promoted as “Once in a Lifetime,” sees Crawford move up two weight classes to challenge Canelo. If Crawford achieves victory, he would become the first male boxer to be undisputed champion in three different divisions in the “four-belt” era.
For Canelo, this could be the most demanding challenge since his defeat against Dmitry Bivol in 2022, when he tried to move up in weight to compete for the light heavyweight title.
This fight transcends the sporting aspect, as both Canelo and Crawford seek to consolidate their legacy in boxing history.
Why will Canelo fight against Crawford?
The short answer is that Canelo had run out of attractive options, and that Turki Alalshikh, the most influential figure in boxing today, wanted this fight.
Following his defeat to Bivol in 2022, Canelo has opted for less risky paths, which has drawn criticism from fans. In his last six fights, he has faced opponents like Gennadiy Golovkin (in the twilight of his career), Jermell Charlo (noticeably smaller), and other less recognized rivals, obtaining victories by unanimous decision. He avoided David Benavidez, who moved up to light heavyweight after realizing that Canelo would not face him.
Meanwhile, Crawford has been waiting since his impressive victory over Errol Spence Jr. in 2023, where he became the undisputed welterweight champion. Crawford initially didn’t have Canelo on his radar due to the size difference, but his desire to overcome challenges led him to seek this fight last year. Canelo, for his part, initially dismissed the match, arguing that he didn’t have much to gain by facing an undisputed champion from two smaller divisions.
However, as the saying goes, money talks. After his victory over Berlanga in September 2024, Canelo began negotiating with Jake Paul, but Alalshikh intervened with an offer of four fights for $400 million, which Canelo couldn’t refuse. The first step was to beat Scull to become undisputed super middleweight champion again, and thus, set the stage for Saturday’s showdown.
Is Crawford a 154-pound champion?
Yes, he is, but he won’t be anymore once the fight against Canelo starts. Crawford won the WBA title by defeating Israil Madrimov in August 2024, his only fight at 154 pounds. It was expected that he would not defend the belt, as the fight served to keep him active while preparing to move up to 168 pounds.
The WBA announced that Crawford would be presented as the super welterweight champion for his fight with Canelo, but that he will relinquish the title regardless of the outcome of the fight.
Abass Baraou, current interim WBA super welterweight champion, will be elevated to full champion once the bell rings in the Canelo-Crawford fight, according to the WBA.
Has Canelo moved up in weight to challenge another champion?
In addition to the fight with Bivol at light heavyweight, Canelo defeated Sergey Kovalev in the eleventh round in 2019 to win the WBO light heavyweight belt, adding a world title in a fourth division. However, Kovalev was in the final stage of his career.
How does Crawford’s weight class jump differ from Canelo’s?
Crawford has never competed at 160 pounds, let alone 168. Furthermore, Crawford is challenging the undisputed champion, rather than having a tune-up fight against another 168-pound boxer to adjust to the weight class. The degree of difficulty for Crawford is much greater than what Canelo faced when moving up in weight.
Why did Crawford accept this opportunity? What’s at stake?
After his victory over Spence, Crawford found himself without any renowned rivals to face. He could have stayed at 147 pounds and defended his titles against Jaron “Boots” Ennis, but he would be the hunted, not the hunter. He could also have sought to become undisputed at 154 pounds after defeating Madrimov, but the quality of the opposition was not the same after the value of the former undisputed champion Charlo was diminished by a decision loss to Canelo in 2023.
Due to Canelo’s pound-for-pound status and recognition, Crawford could earn much more by fighting him.
However, the risk is significant. If Crawford loses, his undefeated record will vanish along with his position as one of the top three pound-for-pound boxers in the world.
Is this the biggest fight of the century?
No. That honor belongs to the Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight in 2015. It’s probably not the second biggest either. Mayweather’s boxing match with MMA superstar Conor McGregor in 2017 generated 4.3 million pay-per-view buys and grossed $600 million in total revenue. However, Canelo vs. Crawford could be a better fight than either of those matchups. Pacquiao wasn’t the destructive force he once was entering his fight with Mayweather and was outboxed by “Money” in a disappointing decision loss. The novelty of Mayweather-McGregor was more significant than the actual competition. Mayweather let the Irishman tire himself out for nine rounds before securing a stoppage in the tenth round.
Canelo-Crawford is expected to approach a full house with a crowd of 65,000 fans at Allegiant Stadium, which would surpass the previous boxing attendance record in Las Vegas, when 29,214 fans attended the 1982 fight between Larry Holmes and Gerry Cooney at the specially built outdoor stadium of Caesars Palace.
The Canelo-Crawford audience could be larger, considering it’s streaming globally on Netflix, but it won’t have a greater appeal than any of the events Mayweather headlined.
Have Canelo or Crawford ever fought in a stadium?
This will be Canelo’s third fight in an NFL stadium, while Crawford will compete in an NFL stadium for the first time on the field of the Las Vegas Raiders. Canelo fought Liam Smith in 2016 and Billy Joe Saunders in 2021 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. He also defeated Ryder at Akron Stadium in Jalisco, Mexico, in 2023, a soccer stadium that is home to Club Deportivo Guadalajara.
How can we expect the fight to unfold?
Neither Canelo nor Crawford have a high punch volume, so the fight has the potential to be a chess match in which both boxers choose their moments and stay out of danger. Canelo will almost certainly try to use his size to intimidate the smaller Crawford, while “Bud” will use his underestimated footwork, his precise counter-punching, and his speed to intercept the champion’s advances.
This shouldn’t resemble Canelo’s fights with Scull or even Charlo at all. Scull refused to engage, and Charlo seemed to give up and survive to cash his check. Crawford is a fighter first and foremost and will go to war if necessary. Canelo is known to settle for a decision when the opponent doesn’t pose a threat to him (e.g., Berlanga, Munguia, Scull, Charlo), but Crawford is unlikely to enter survival mode at any point in the fight.
Is Canelo the favorite to win?
ESPN BET has the undisputed super middleweight champion as a -175 favorite over Crawford. Canelo hasn’t been the underdog in the betting since his second fight with Golovkin in 2018.
Will the winner of this fight be considered the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world?
Not entirely. It only works for Crawford, who will become undisputed champion in an unprecedented third weight category if he defeats Canelo. Achieving the feat will almost certainly catapult Crawford to the top, currently held by undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. If Crawford defeats Canelo, it will be almost blasphemous to keep him out of the top spot.
Beating a smaller boxer like Crawford probably won’t propel Canelo to the top spot. Currently ranked number 8 in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, Canelo will certainly move up if he wins, but it probably won’t be enough to surpass Usyk, undisputed featherweight champion Naoya Inoue (No. 2) or even unified light heavyweight champion Bivol (No. 4).
Are there any other fights on the card I should pay attention to?
The WBC interim super middleweight champion and undefeated Christian Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs) will face the also undefeated 168-pound fighter Lester Martinez (19-0, 16 KOs) in what is expected to be an action-packed fight in which the winner could find themselves in line to challenge the winner of the main event.
Mbilli is currently ESPN’s number 2 super middleweight and is coming off a one-sided destruction of Maciej Sulecki in June. The Cameroonian-French boxer has been one to watch over the past year after scoring four knockout victories in his last five fights.
Although the co-main event between super welterweights Callum Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) and Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs) does not have a world title at stake, it should be an entertaining fight between two boxers looking to make a statement. Walsh is advised by UFC CEO Dana White and has been a regular on UFC Fight Pass throughout his career. He is also one of the key fighters competing for TKO Group’s Zuffa Boxing. He will face the son of former boxing star Fernando Vargas. Fernando Jr. is not as acclaimed as his younger brother Emiliano Vargas, but he will defend the family name.
