Terence Crawford defends himself against doubts: “I’ve never been down!” He wants to prove that against Canelo Alvarez on Saturday.
Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 knockouts) leaves no doubt about his stability – even before the biggest fight of his career to date. The 37-year-old meets Canelo Álvarez (63-2-2, 39 knockouts) in Las Vegas on Saturday and moves up two weight classes to do so. He has no doubt that he can withstand Canelo’s punching power.
“I’ve never been down. Sure, I’ve been hit before – but who hasn’t?” said Crawford on his arrival in Las Vegas. Critics point to the fights against Yuriorkis Gamboa (2014) and Egidijus Kavaliauskas (2019), in which Crawford looked battered. In both cases, however, he fought back impressively – he ended both fights by T.K.O. in round 9.
Canelo himself was last visibly battered in 2010 against Jose Cotto – but also remained standing. Crawford is now challenging for Canelo’s IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring super middleweight belts. The showdown will be broadcast live worldwide on Netflix – over 300 million subscribers could be watching.
Text by Robin Josten