This weekend’s huge matchup between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford has proven to be difficult to predict.
Both men are two of the greats of their era, which is exactly why it’s so exciting that they’ll go toe-to-toe with one another on September 13.
Alvarez’s last performance led to a lot of criticism for the Mexican star due to the dull nature of his bout with William Scull.
That being said, the two men who will headline Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas this Saturday are known for rising to the occasion.
Alvarez has some devastating knockouts on his record and with the defending champion being the more natural super middleweight, a lot of people have pointed to this as being the difference maker.
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Dan Hardy believes that Terence Crawford will surprise a lot of people with his power at super middleweight
There may be questions about how much longer Canelo Alvarez has at the top, but his size and power aren’t going to be affected by that on September 13.
Many of the breakdowns of this fight speak about Terence Crawford needing to play to his strengths by using his movement and speed to try to avoid his opponent’s heavier shots.
Former UFC title challenger Dan Hardy has been one of the best analysts in MMA for a long time and as a big boxing fan, he was always going to have some thoughts on this weekend’s bout.
In a recent interview with The Schmo, he was asked about what people are overlooking when they predict the fight, with Hardy contradicting what appears to be the consensus opinion.
“I think the biggest thing people are overlooking is Terence Crawford’s ability to punch at this weight class. I think there’s an assumption, and I’ve made it myself, I’ve been going back and forth on this in my own head for a while. [There’s] An assumption that Terence Crawford moving up a weight class is not going to be able to generate any kind of power that’s going to be problematic for Canelo.”
Hardy believes that while moving up to super middleweight is a big task for Crawford, it might benefit him in a fight like this where he may need to stand his ground a bit more.
‘The Outlaw’ pointed to some of the promotional material that has been released ahead of this fight to identify a moment where Crawford may have been letting people in to his secret.
“I watched the Countdown shows as well. There’s a moment where they ask Crawford about his punching power and he has this grin on his face that says to me, ‘Man, I punch really, really heavy at this weight class and I didn’t even think I would.’ I think he’s surprising himself with how heavy-handed he’s being. So, I actually think we’re going to see a different version of Crawford… I think we will see Canelo hurt in this fight.”
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Terence Crawford brushed off the idea that he can stop Canelo Alvarez on September 13
Terence Crawford may not be known for having the same kind of one-shot power as Canelo Alvarez, but he’s still won 31 of his 41 pro fights via stoppage.
‘Bud’ was asked about his power translating to super middleweight in a recent fight week media scrum that was posted by Boxing News.
“Of course, the power’s definitely going to come with it. That’s not any worry that I ever had to have.”
Crawford was later asked in the same interview about whether he can finish Alvarez, which he somewhat dismissed.
“I don’t know about stopping him, but you know, I’m strong. I’ve never been in the ring with Canelo so I can’t speak on him but that’s why we fight the fight that we fight, so we can figure it out.”