Vergil Ortiz Jr. Says Terence Crawford Too Small to Handle Canelo Alvarez’s Power and Experience

Vergil Ortiz Jr. states that Terence Crawford is “too small” for him to defeat four-belt 168-lb champion Canelo Alvarez on September 13. Ortiz Jr. says that putting on weight and “belonging to that weight’ are different things.

Ortiz Jr: Crawford is Too Small

The size that the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has put on in the last 13 months that he’s been preparing for this superfight won’t magically transform him into a super middleweight. It’ll just make him an older fighter who has put on weight, and he’ll be slower.

WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Jr. is picking Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) to use his size, power, and experience at 168 to defeat Crawford. Ortiz Jr. says that it would be different if Crawford jumped up two divisions to face a “less caliber” super middleweight, but he’s not doing that.

“I think he’s too small. Putting on that weight and actually belonging to that weight are two different things,” said WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Ring Magazine about Crawford not being big enough to fight at 168 despite bulking up for the Canelo fight

Crawford’s fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024, showed that he’s got the size to compete in that weight class, but his power isn’t as formidable as it was at 147. Going up to 168, Crawford’s power could be even less. Putting on extra size won’t transform Crawford into a retro Julian Jackson KO artist.

“I would understand if he fought someone of less caliber, but it’s Canelo we’re talking about. That dude is good. I think it’s going to be a clear win. Crawford gets hit, he does, like everybody else. Sometimes he gets hit very clean. If you get hit by Canelo, it’s really not good, whoever you are. Canelo is fast. It’s not like he’s a slow puncher. He will catch you off guard,” said Vergil Jr.

Crawford To Adopt Mayweather’s Blueprint

Fans online doubt that Crawford will choose to engage at any length, as he’ll be following the Mayweather blueprint that his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre mentioned they would use to outbox the Mexican superstar.

All Crawford has to do is win, and it doesn’t matter if he makes it boring the way Floyd Jr. did in his 12-round majority decision win over Canelo on September 14, 2013. If Crawford is victorious, a lucrative rematch with Alvarez is highly probable. The money that Terence would get in a second fight would likely be more than the reported $50 million he’s receiving for his September 13 superfight against Canelo.

Promoter Tom Loeffler Gives Canelo Edge

“I think people dismiss Canelo for that last performance he had over in Riyadh. But when you have an opponent like William Scull, who is not going to engage, it’s really hard to look good against someone like that,” said promoter Tom Loeffler of 360 Promotions to Fighthype. “I would give the edge to Canelo because he’s been in that position before.”

Canelo’s last opponent, IBF super middleweight champion William Scull, showed no willingness to stand still to exchange with Canelo in their fight on May 3, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Scull still landed some good shots when he did stop moving, and he frequently caught Canelo walking in.

Crawford Must Land Meaningful Punches

Scull, 5’11”, is naturally bigger, younger, faster, and arguably more powerful than Crawford. Alvarez was forced to respect his power after eating big punches from him early in their fight. If that performance is indicative of what Canelo has left at 35 after a long 20-year professional career, Crawford has a chance of winning. However, Terence will need to throw enough meaningful punches to win a decision on the judges’ cards.

It won’t be enough for Crawford to dance around, landing mostly jabs, and focusing on trying to win a 12-round points decision. A bigger and younger version of Cuban Erislandy Lara tried that approach, and it failed in his 12-round split decision defeat on July 12, 2014. Erislandy was 31 at the time and possessed excellent hand speed. He chose to box instead of using his power to stand in the trenches with Canelo

“I don’t think the weight is as big as a lot of people are saying because Crawford probably walks around at that weight. He probably only has to drop a couple of pounds,” said Loeffler.