Bruce Carrington Predicts Terence Crawford Will “Convincingly” Exploit Canelo Alvarez’s “Slow Feet” in September Fight

Bruce Carrington is picking Terence Crawford to “convincingly” defeat Canelo Alvarez on September 12th. The featherweight contender, Carrington, notes that undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has “slow feet” and historically hasn’t done well against “movers” that aren’t there for him to hit. He points out that Alvarez’s low 152 punch output against IBF 168-lb champion William Scull last Saturday exemplifies his helplessness against fighters who move.

Hiding the Defect

Carrington says that when Canelo fought the mobile Cuban Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr. earlier in his career over a decade ago, he had slow feet even then. It’s gotten worse as he’s aged. Bruce doesn’t feel that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will move to the extent Scull did, but he’ll do it enough to leave Alvarez with few opportunities to land his big power shots.

Carrington states that Canelo has been able to hide his defect of slow feet by selecting opponents who didn’t move around much. The only fighters that he’s fought during his career with mobility were Mayweather, Erislandy, Scull, and Dmitry Bivol. Alvarez arguably lost to three of those four. Even the Scull fight was razor-close in real terms, and some believe the Cuban deserved the win.

“Crawford all the way. He shows up every single time when it comes to big fights. So, I feel like he’s going to really hone in on the game plan about what he needs to be done to beat Canelo,” said Bruce Carrington to Pro Boxing Fans, analyzing the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight on September 12th.

Why Crawford Will Beat Canelo

• Alvarez’s physical decline: The last two performances against Scull and Edgar Berlanga showed that Canelo’s output, stamina, and power have dropped off. He’s now a three-round fighter.
• Terence’s superior skills: Crawford’s jab, movement, and ring IQ are on a level better than Canelo’s. The Mexican star is just a limited counter-puncher who loads up on single shots.
• Crawford’s movement and reach: Crawford’s footwork is much better than the stubby, short-legged Canelo, who fights like he’s moving ankle-deep in mud.
• Better coaching: Crawford’s trainer, BoMac, is the best in creating game plans. Crawford’s trainer is like a scientist with the way he breaks down his opponents, and fights the right strategies to defeat them. He’s already figured out how to beat Canelo.

“We seen in the last fight [against William Scull] that Canelo doesn’t do very well against movers, and I don’t think Crawford is going to move as much as Scull did,” said Carrington. “That was so excessive what Scull was doing. But he’s going to be mixing in that movement with his offense, and make it a pretty good fight.”

Scull easily could have won the fight if he’d believed in himself and come forward to attack Canelo. He was getting the better of the Mexican star during exchanges, making him afraid to throw. One of the reasons that Alvarez shut down his offense in the second half was fear of being countered by Scull.

“I don’t think he’s going to stop Canelo in any way, but I feel like Bud can win convincingly,” said Carrington about Terence. “I feel like Canelo’s feet been slow. You saw when he fought [Erislandy] Lara [in 2014]. You seen even when he was younger when he fought Mayweather [in 2013].”

Anyone could see that Canelo has slow feet from watching his fights. It’s always been this way. He lost to Erislandy in 2014, but two judges gave the Cuban a raw deal. After that fight, Canelo became very selective in his opponents, always choosing stationary fighters. He only fought one good opponent after the Lara bout, Gennadiy Golovkin. Even then, he waited until he was 36 before fighting him. He could have fought GGG when he was 32, but he put it off until he had a poor performance against Kell Brook.

Punch Shy Champion

“If he [Canelo] has a mover in front of him, he’s not going to do as well,” said Carrington about Canelo. “He wants someone that is able to stand in front of him so he can connect with those big shots. If not, he’s going to be throwing air. So, he’s not going to throw as many punches as you seen when he fought Scull. He didn’t throw many punches [Note: Canelo threw 152 punches against Scull] if he doesn’t feel confident in hitting you.

“Yeah, Canelo has been had slow feet. It’s just that his opponents he’s fought haven’t moved around to expose that,” said Carrington.