Trainer Stephen Edwards says Terence Crawford’s year out of the ring won’t negatively affect his performance against Canelo Alvarez on September 13th. Edwards points out that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has never shown ring rust in the many years he’s been inactive, and he feels it won’t hurt his performance against the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) in their mega-fight.
Crawford Can’t Hurt Canelo
Fans believe Crawford, 37, is shooting himself in the foot by sitting on the sidelines, power-feeding to bulk up, and choosing not to test himself against a top 168-lb fighter to get ready for Alvarez.
“I always like Crawford in the fight. I think Crawford is going to win,” said trainer Stephen Edwards to Fight Hub TV, picking Terence Crawford over Canelo Alvarez in their fight on September 13th. “I just think he’s going to be too much. Yep. Anybody can be hurt in a fight,” said Stephen when asked if Terence can hurt Alvarez. “Canello has got a great chin, but anybody can be hurt on any given night.”
Crawford is not going to hurt Canelo. Let’s get that out there right now. He doesn’t hit hard enough, and if he sticks his neck out trying to knock out the Mexican star, he’s going to be in the firing line to get blasted out. Canelo has fought Gennadiy Golovkin three times, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, and Dmitry Bivol, to name just a few fighters with much more power than Terence.
Crawford’s Easy Opponents After Layoffs
“Every time he lays off, he never looks rusty,” said Edwards when asked if Crawford’s inactivity will be a factor against Canelo. “He’s one of those guys who never look rusty. It applies to a lot of fighters, but he defies the logic in that because he doesn’t look rusty in his layoffs.”
Edwards conveniently fails to mention the level of opposition Crawford fought after his long layoff. He didn’t fight any killers. The best fighter Terence fought in the last five years, with his time off, is Israil Madrimov, and he deserved to lose that fight in the eyes of many fans. Canelo says he saw Madrimov as the winner. Crawford fought Errol Spence, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter, coming off long layoffs, but they were all washed up.
None of them were anywhere near where they were when they were in their prime. It would have been a different story if Crawford came back from his four layoffs against killers like Bakhram Murtazaliev, Dmitry Bivol, Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr, Janibek Alimkhanuly, and David Benavidez.
Crawford has had five extended layoffs of 11 months to 1 year since 2019. Although he’s not looked rusty since coming off these layoffs, he has always fought beatable opposition. The one exception was his last fight against Israil Madrimov, which he arguably lost but was given the win.
Crawford’s Layoff History Since 2019
December 14, 2019 vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas
November 14, 2020 vs. Kell Brook – 11 months inactive
November 20, 2021 vs. Shawn Porter – 12 months
December 10, 2022 vs. David Avanesyan – 11 months
July 29, 2023 vs. Errol Spence – 7 months
August 3, 2024 vs. Israil Madrimov – 13 months
“He seems to have a very fast processing mind. He can seem to adjust to anything,” said Edwards about Crawford. “He’s like a savant in a boxing ring. He probably can’t even explain how he adjusts to everything. He can just adjust to anything in a fight. He’s a great fighter.”
Who has Crawford been adjusting to? When you’re fighting guys like Avanesyan, a car crash wrecked Spence, and a past his prime Porter, it’s not saying much that you can adjust to what they’re doing.
Signs of Crawford’s Decline
“Sure,” said Edwards when asked if Crawford has any advantages over Canelo. “Better stamina, better conditioning, and better feet. Obviously, Canelo is the harder puncher and probably the stronger guy. But I think he [Crawford] has better dexterity and more agility. He’s going to be better in the later rounds. He’s a little taller, and his arms are longer. Yeah, I think he has a lot of advantages.”
Stephen is right that Crawford has better stamina, arm length, and height than Canelo. However, he didn’t look all that agile or dexterous in his fight against Israil Madrimov. He looked like he had rust in his joints from inactivity. That happens when a fighter takes a year off between fights for five consecutive years. If Crawford had stayed busy, fighting three times a year, he wouldn’t have had that problem.
“I disagree with that. I think Crawford is going to be the stronger fighter in the later rounds. I think that the early part of the fight is where he’s got to be careful at,” said Edwards. “I think the early part of the fight, he can get clipped if he’s not careful. But I think he functions better in the later rounds than Canelo does.”
Crawford didn’t look strong in the 11th and 12th rounds against ‘Little GGG’ Israil Madrimov last August. He was getting lit up by right hands, and resembled a 40-year-old. There was nothing strong about the way Crawford looked in the last two rounds, and he definitely didn’t look youthful unless you’re comparing him to one of the long-living Great Basin trees, which live to be over 4,000 years old.
Last Updated on 05/19/2025
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