Trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis says Terence Crawford has a “great” chance of defeating Canelo Alvarez on September 12th. Bozy states that the movement that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will use will “frustrate” the undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) like William Scull did last Saturday. He notes the difference is that Crawford will “fight” Canelo.
The idea is that Crawford should aim to frustrate Canelo by moving, hitting, and tying him up all night. This style was used by Erislandy Lara against Canelo in 2014, which worked well, but the judges didn’t give the Cuban the decision.
Terence’s Need for Action
Crawford would have to fight more in the trenches than Lara did to get the decision against Alvarez. There’s too much money being paid to these two fighters for Crawford to make it ugly, hoping to win a decision.
“That movement offsets everybody, and with Canelo, he gets frustrated,” said trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about how Canelo Alvarez struggles against fighters who move. “He’s just walking to you and all that. If he can’t touch you, that’s it.”
Bozy is getting mixed up, thinking about the Crawford who existed before age, inactivity, and weight gain slowed him down. Terence was a great mover back in 2017 and before, but he has not shown that he can do that in his last four fights.
Crawford’s ability to move appeared diminished in his last fight against Israil Madrimov in August 2024. He’d put on a lot of weight and had been out of the ring for over a year. Also, he’d visibly aged in the 13 months he’d been out of the ring since his victory over Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023.
“Like I said, Terence has got a great chance of beating him,” said Bozy. “Terence can box, move, and punch. Terence ain’t going to be doing like Scull. He’s going to fight you. Terence is from the street, man. He knows what to do. When it comes down to it, I think he’s going to wind up frustrating Canelo.”
Crawford’s only chance of beating Canelo is standing in the pocket and out-slugging him. He won’t beat him by any of the methods that Bozy describes. He wants him to clinch a lot, which won’t win over the judges. This isn’t Israil Madrimov that Crawford is fighting, where he can get the nod by doing very little. He’s actually got to fight Canelo because this is a superstar, and the judges won’t give him a cheap win.
The Pressure to Entertain
“The way I would have my fighter doing. I’m boxing him, and he’s coming at me, and I’m hitting him, bop, bop, bop, bop,” said Ennis. “As soon as he gets set, I tie him up and walk him to the center. Keep on frustrating. Hip with the jab. Boom. Boom. Keep on moving, but also hitting him, though. He gets frustrated and lets his guard down, and it’s a good night.”
Bozy sounds like he wants Crawford to spoil and make it a boring fight against Canelo. Hopefully, he doesn’t do that because Turki Alalshikh is paying him $100 million for this contest. Last Friday night at Times Square, we saw three boring fights, with the A-side fighters Ryan Garcia, Teofimo Lopez, and Devin Haney all turning in dull performances despite being paid millions for their fights.
“I wasn’t surprised. Terence is about 5’9″, something like that?” said Bozy when asked if he was surprised that Crawford was taller than Canelo during their face-off. “I think Terence is going to do what he do. Terence might stop him. Yeah, but he ain’t been hit by Terence, though. Terence can punch.”
Crawford showed no power in his debut at 154 against Madrimov. If he can’t punch at the 154 level, he’s not going to turn into a monstrous slugger going up 14 lbs to 168. Crawford isn’t young. He’s 40-ish and has fought only five times since 2020. At his age, jumping up in weight, it’s totally unrealistic that he’s going to show the power of a natural super middleweight. Crawford is going to come into the fight with the power of a welterweight, but carrying around a lot of extra muscle that will slow him down, making him easier to hit.
The Danger of Close Range
“I know he’s been in with some of the great punchers and all that, but them punches have got to be placed right,” said Bozy. “And Terence places them punches. Them body shots, man. I don’t see too many people go to Canelo’s body. Have you seen that? Not too many people.”
Crawford isn’t going to throw body punches because that’ll require that he stand in range of Alvarez’s punches, and he’ll get caught with something big. If he does try to slug with Canelo, it’ll end badly for him, but he’s got to do it if he wants to win. Again, the judges aren’t going to give him a win against the superstar Canelo by boxing him.
“So, I would go to the body, go to the head, and go back down to the body. Once you keep going to the body, he’s [Canelo] is going to drop his hands. Once he drops his hands, good night,” said Bozy.
Last Updated on 05/08/2025
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