Crawford’s Workout Moves: Glimpse Into Canelo Strategy, Evasion Key

Terence Crawford showed off his bigger physique and the moves he plans on using when he steps up two divisions from 154 to 168 to challenge WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez for his three [or perhaps four] titles on September 13th in Las Vegas.

Evasion Tactics

Still looking like a junior middleweight in size, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) showed a lot of movement in his brief training clip today. It’s believed that he will box bigger, stronger, and younger Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) to stay out of the line of fire. Fans unfamiliar with Crawford’s career mainly know him from his fight against Errol Spence, and they mistakenly believe he’s ALWAYS fought aggressively like that.

That’s not how Crawford has fought. He was just aggressive in that one fight because he was facing a slowed, weight-drained, car crash-wrecked version of Spence, who was easy prey. Usually, Crawford fights like he did against Israil Madrimov by boxing, playing chess, and making it dull.

Picture a bigger version of Shakur Stevenson with more pop, but the same cautious, counter-punching style. That’s Crawford. He’s never been exciting to watch for fans familiar with his career. That’s why his fight with Canelo will likely be very dull for fans that enjoy action.

Terence will sit for a year without fighting rather than moving up to 168 to fight one of the top contenders, like Olsleys Iglesias, Diego Pacheco or Christian Mbilli. If he did that, he could stay sharp, get acclimatized to the super middleweight division, and show the fans that this isn’t just about getting a retirement payday.

For boxing fans that have a head on their shoulders, that’s the only conclusion you can draw. Crawford says he’s moving up to 168 to fight Canelo for legacy to prove his greatness, yet he’s choosing not to fight in the division first.

Legacy or Money?

Moreover, he plans on leaving the 168-lb division after to either retire or return to 154. That makes it seem obvious that it’s about money. If Crawford isn’t doing it for money, why won’t he take a tune-up first at 168?

It would be great for the people that order this event on PPV if Crawford did come to fight rather than run around the ring like 154-pound Jermell Charlo did when he moved up 14 lbs to challenge Canelo for his belts in 2023. Jermell was like a bigger, stronger version of Crawford, but he wanted no part of mixing it up with Alvarez after taking some big shots from him early in the fight. He spent most of the fight on the move, running, and the fans were furious.

Crawford didn’t show any power in his move up to 154 from 147 last August against Israil Madrimov, and his face looked badly beaten up by the end of the fight. It was almost as bad as Vergil Ortiz Jr’s face when he fought Madrimov last Saturday.

Vergil Jr. did a better job of beating Madrimov than Crawford, but he was younger and more willing to engage. Crawford fought defensively and still took a lot of punishment.