Shawn Porter’s Worries: Canelo Alvarez’s Power and the Threat to Terence Crawford’s Chin

Shawn Porter says he’s worried about Terence Crawford’s ability to absorb the punches from Canelo Alvarez over the 12 rounds of their headliner on September 13th. Porter states that Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will come out of the blocks quickly, looking to wear Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) down slowly with his heavy shots.

Porter Worries for Crawford’s Chin

“I am concerned with him absorbing a Canelo punch, especially through the course of 12 rounds,” said Shawn Porter to Fight Hub TV, talking about his worries for Terence Crawford. “I do know this about Canelo. He’s going to slow down.”

Crawford hasn’t been hit by anyone with Canelo’s power before, and he’s going to be getting hit quite often if he comes to fight on September 13th. Terence’s sparring partners won’t have the power or the identical fighting style that Alvarez uses for him to get comfortable with it.

The Dangerous Canelo Left Hook

The left hook screw shot that Canelo throws will be especially dangerous for Crawford. Alvarez uses misdirection, as it appears that it’s being aimed toward his opponent’s midsection because he’s thrown so low. But brings the shot up to the head, and catches his opponents by surprise. He dropped Edgar Berlanga with that same shot and had William Scull in a state of terror the entire fight. Berlanga could take it because he weighed 193 lbs on the night of the fight, but Crawford isn’t expected to be nearly as heavy.

“So, I think, if anything, Canelo will try to start fast, and bang on him and break him down before it gets later and he still has that kind of steam,” Porter said. “There are so many components that make a champion.”

Canelo will start fast, not only because he’s trying to break him down, but also not to fall behind early. The last thing he’d want is to put himself in a hole in the first half of the fight and be in a desperate situation going into the second half. You can’t do that against Crawford because he’ll get on his bike and coast like he did against Viktor Postol.

That was the one where he jabbed, moved, and stuck his tongue out at Postol, who couldn’t catch up to him to get back into the fight after he fell behind early. It was boring to watch, but it was effective for Crawford.

“There are so many components that make a legend. There’s so much to go into,” said Porter. “It’s a conversation that lasts an hour easily when we talk about all the components that Terence Crawford has. All the components that Canelo has, and how they even out, and who trumps one another. We tried to do that with Errol Spence and Terence Crawford. And we saw how that panned out,” said Porter.

Errol Spence was a different case. By the time he fought Crawford, he’d been through a car crash that ruined him physically, eye surgery, being weight drained, and over a year of inactivity. Canelo is a different beast. He doesn’t have those things going against him in this fight.