Terence Crawford has recalled the exact moment where, in his mind, it was confirmed that he could not possibly lose to Canelo Alvarez.
The pair eventually squared off in September 2025, but Crawford insists he was angling to face the Mexican at least 12 months prior.
It was around this time that he dethroned Israil Madrimov at 154lbs, which followed his undisputed welterweight triumph over Errol Spence Jr in 2023.
Back then, many questioned whether ‘Bud’ had the frame and physical attributes to even compete at 168lbs, let alone topple the division’s undisputed king.
As it happened, though, Crawford produced a masterful performance to dethrone Canelo with a unanimous decision victory, seizing all four of his world super-middleweight titles.
But while Alvarez was a clear favourite heading into their contest, it suddenly seemed as if many were beginning to favour the speed and technical prowess of Crawford.
This was partly because of Canelo’s uninspiring display against William Scull, who he convincingly outpointed earlier that year while ultimately lacking a degree of explosiveness and aggression.
But instead of highlighting this as the first sign of Canelo’s decline, Crawford has told Jai McAllister that 2024 was when he knew exactly how their eventual fight would unfold.
“When I was at 147[lbs], I was already calling out Canelo. I was already saying I’ll move up three weight classes and fight Canelo.
“Me and Turki [Alalshikh] went to watch him fight [Edgar] Berlanga and I said, ‘He can’t beat me’.”
Against Berlanga, Canelo scored a third-round knockdown but otherwise failed to captivate his fans, before claiming a wide unanimous decision victory.
As a result, Crawford clearly felt he was there for the taking, despite it being a year before they locked horns in Las Vegas.