Trainer Abel Sanchez Predicts Canelo Alvarez Will Knock Out or Dominate Terence Crawford

Canelo Alvarez will target Terence Crawford’s arms and shoulders, which will slowly wear him down in their fight on September 13th in Las Vegas. Trainer Abel Sanchez says Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will “feel” the shots to his arms and shoulders. He won’t be able to avoid them like he does with headshots.

Crawford’s Weight Jump Challenge

Sanchez believes the two-division jump up in weight for Crawford, 38, will be too much for him, and he’ll get knocked out or lose by a wide decision to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs).

Crawford’s Reasons For Fighting Canelo

1. Legacy
2. Financial
3. History
4. Fan demand

“He’s just throwing bombs away, not caring what they do to him. He’s got excellent defense,” said trainer Abel Sanchez to Round Eight Boxing, talking about Canelo Alvarez for his fight against Terence Crawford. “Unfortunately, his feet don’t move as well as I’d like for him to move them, but his upper body is just unbelievable.”

Crawford is going to try to box Canelo from the outside and potshot him with single shots. He’s not going to fight him like he did against Israil Madrimov because Alvarez hits too hard.

Sanchez Predicts Canelo Victory

“He slips punches very well. He’s got great hands. He parries very well, and he lands big shots,” said Sanchez about Canelo. “He may not land as many, but he lands big shots that hurt. So, I think Canelo stops him or a wide decision in the end, and his corner has got to think about Crawford’s safety and health.”

Canelo’s stamina is his real problem because he faces too early in his fights, and gives away rounds down the stretch. Crawford may be banking on that happening.

“In the beginning, the first shots are a shock. It’s a cumulative effect. Canelo is going to hit him on the arms like he’s never been hit before,” said Sanchez. “You remember. You remember Bivol with Beterbiev, with the way he was hit. Okay, those guys were the same weight, but now you’re talking about two different weight divisions.”

The weight is going to be significant because Terence has got to go up two weight classes, put on size, and work on his power.

“When Canelo starts hitting him on the arms and the shoulders, Crawford is going ot feel it. He’s a great fighter, but that’s why we have weight divisions. Bob Foster was a great fighter until he moved up. Crawford can move his head, slip punches on top, but Canelo was in our gym when he was 19 years old. That’s what I always have my fighters do. They always hit the arms.

“I discourage in sparring in my gym for people to hit them in the head. I want them to hit the body, hit the shoulders. I want them to hit the chest. I discourage that because there’s going to be plenty of that come fight time,” said Abel.