Ground Zero: Donaire Says Crawford’s Body is the Target for Canelo’s Punches

Nonito Donaire says Canelo Alvarez should “tee off” on Terence Crawford’s body on Saturday, making that the target for his punches at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The former four-division world champion Donaire states that Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) should focus on Crawford’s body and his arms with his punches to neutralize his skills advantage. Canelo always attacks his opponent’s body. That’s part of his game.

“He should go out there and tee off on that body and the arms like he does. The head will come down. We’ve seen it in a lot of his fights before,” said Nonito Donaire to Boxing News when asked if Canelo Alvarez should attack Terence Crawford’s body.

Going to Crawford’s body would be the smartest thing Canelo can do, because he’s proven throughout his career that he’s got a strong chin. What hasn’t been tested is Crawford’s body because he hasn’t fought body-punchers. His career has been fought against fighters who went strictly upstairs with their shots. So, Crawford’s body should be ground zero for Canelo’s punches on Saturday.

“The thing is, will Crawford allow him to do that? That’s the question. Canelo has been at this weight for a long time, and he’s gained that body, that experience, and he has the power,” said Donaire. “He has the accolades to show it all off, too.”

It would be a nightmare for Turki Alalshikh if Crawford chooses to move rather than engage with Canelo. The cost of this event, and the way that Turki went to bat for Terence, hand-picking him for this fight, it’ll blow up in his face if he goes into track star mode.

Even if Crawford moves all night, there’s going to be moments where Canelo catches up to him and hits him to the body. Alvarez’s last opponent, William Scull, was on the move the entire fight earlier this year on May 3, and Canelo still caught up to him often to land body shots.

“Crawford, I believe, is the more skillful fighter, but he’s going up a lot of weight classes to get there. He’s never fought at 160 [or 168]. So, is that weight going to affect him or not? The moment he gets hit in the arm, is he going to think otherwise?” said Nonito.

It’s reasonable to say that Crawford made a mistake by not choosing to take a fight at 160 and 168 in the 13 months that he’s been out of the ring leading up to this fight. He had all the time he needed to take warm-up fights at middleweight against the likes of Carlos Adames or Janibek Alimkhanuly.

After one of those guys, Crawford should have gone up to 168 to get his feet wet against Christian Mbilli or Diego Pacheco. Fighting those guys, he’d be ready for Canelo and would have a better chance of beating him.

“Crawford is skilled, can box, and do anything. But Canelo has that power to neutralize things, but he’s always had problems with people who move around him. I have to make it 50/50 because I give Canelo the power at this weight. But I give the talent, the skills, and the speed to Crawford,” said Donaire.

It’s nice that Nonito is taking a chance with his prediction. Not. Canelo has the advantage in five main categories:

1. Weight
2. Power
3. Experience
4. Youth
5. Activity

Canelo being at the weight for years, while Crawford is fighting for the first time at 168, gives him a big advantage. I believe that Canelo, being a natural super middleweight rather than a pumped-up one like Crawford, will be the deciding factor in this fight.