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Andreas Hale
Until this week, the biggest point of contention heading into Saturday’s undisputed super middleweight title clash between champion Canelo Alvarez and former two division undisputed champion Terence Crawford had been the weight disparity between the two fighters.
However, rumors that Crawford has been dealing with a shoulder injury throughout training camp surfaced recently, and are now dominating the conversation during fight week.
On Monday, a social media post on X alleged that Crawford had been dealing with complications from shoulder surgery during camp that could potentially compromise the challenger when he moves up two weight classes to challenge Canelo for super middleweight supremacy Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“Apparently it has been a lingering issue for the past 8-10 weeks & is being monitored closely,” the post read, before garnering nearly 300k views and leading to widespread speculation surrounding the bout.
Crawford addressed the rumors Wednesday.
“My shoulder is messed up, everyone,” Crawford said sarcastically in response to an inquiry from “ESPN Knockout” about the social media post and rumored injury. “But don’t tell Canelo.”
The four-division champion will make the leap from 154 pounds to 168 pounds for his fight with Canelo as he attempts to become the first male boxer to become an undisputed champion in three different weight classes. While the size difference could play a factor, Crawford was unconcerned with any physical complications heading into the fight but kept it cheeky with his response.
“It may be the right shoulder or the left shoulder but it’s probably both of them,” he said. “I’m having problems with my shoulders. Keep that under wraps.”