Fundora: Crawford Will Not Be Victorious Against Canelo at 168 Pounds

Sebastian Fundora says he doesn’t think Terence Crawford will be victorious against Canelo Alvarez in their fight at 168 on September 13th. Fundora states that Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has been fighting at super middleweight for many years, and he’s “more comfortable” at the weight than Crawford.

Unprepared for 168: Crawford

Terence (41-0, 31 KOs) will be making his debut at 168 after a year out of the ring, and a lackluster performance in his first fight at 154 a year ago. Turki Alalshikh hasn’t put Crawford’s feet to the fire, insisting that he move up to 168 and prove himself against this little murderer’s row of killers:

1. David Benavidez
2. David Morrell
3. Jermall Charlo

At least if Crawford had fought those three, it would minimize the possibility of him just taking the fight against Canelo to get the estimated $100 million paycheck, putting in no effort, and then disappearing, never to be seen again. Turki should be insisting that Crawford face these three walking guillotines to earn his retirement loot.

The worst thing you can have is an aging fighter move up three divisions to challenge a world champion without at least proving themselves against the top contender in that weight class as a safety precaution.

Canelo’s Weight Edge

“I don’t think so. This guy is more comfortable at 168,” said Sebastian Fundora to the media today when asked if he thinks Terence Crawford will defeat Canelo Alvarez on September 13th in their fight at super middleweight. “He’s been fighting at 68 for four or five years now [Note: Canelo has been fighting at 168 for seven years since 2018].

It’s not just that Canelo has been fighting at 168 for a lot longer than Crawford. The reasons Alvarez has a significant edge in this fight are:

• Inactivity: Fighting once a year since 2020. Five fights in five years.
• Age: The Nebraska native Terence turns 38 in September. We saw the decline in Crawford in his last fight against Israil Madrimov the previous year. He did not look like the spring chicken that he once was. Age had kicked in.
• Inexperience: Crawford has never fought at 168, and chose not to take a tune-up in that weight class. You can understand why. He was worried about losing or looking bad. If Terence did take a tune-up at super middleweight, he would have had to fight a contender. Put Crawford in with a fringe-level fighter like Bektemir Melikuziev, and he might lose.
• Lack of ambition: Bud is quite rich now, and like wealthy people, he’s not as ambitious to work hard as hungry fighters who haven’t made millions. You can call it laziness. Crawford should have stayed busy this year since his narrow win over Israil Madrimov last August, but he doesn’t feel he needs to. Again, it’s what you see when people become wealthy. While some people work harder, like Gilded Age billionaires J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, others are content to do the minimum after they have made a little money.

Hit-and-Not-Get-Hit Style

“Crawford is a great fighter, but we’ll see. In boxing, anything can happen. No, I just think it’s something he was uncomfortable with,” said Fundora when asked if he thinks Canelo is showing signs of slowing down in his last fight against William Scull on May 3rd.

Fans believe Crawford is just chasing a paycheck and will not even begin to try to make a fight of it against Canelo. They see Crawford just coming to survive, staying on the move, trying not to get hit by Alvarez, and hoping to win a decision.

He won’t engage and will resemble Shakur Stevenson with his hit-and-not-get-hit style. Crawford won’t show guilt afterward because that’s how he’s always fought. He’ll have gotten his paycheck, and he won’t care what the fans say.