Promoter Bob Arum has a hard time envisioning Terence Crawford pulling out a win over Canelo Alvarez.
Asked to offer his opinion on the hypothetical match-up recently, the Hall of Fame promoter said he just feels that Alvarez’s size and strength would carry him to a win over Crawford, a former client of Arum’s Top Rank. As the undisputed 168-pound champion, Alvarez fights nearly 20 pounds above Crawford, the undisputed champion of the 147-pound division.
Talk of a Canelo vs. Crawford bout, once unthinkable, has become the topic du jour after Crawford’s dominant stoppage win over Errol Spence Jr. in July to unify all four titles in the welterweight class.
“Well, you’d have to favor Canelo in that fight because he’s the bigger, stronger guy,” Arum told Pro Boxing Fans. “But we promoted so many Crawford fights and he is a tremendous, tremendous talent. So, I wouldn’t count Crawford out in any fight, although a big favorite is Canelo in that fight.”
The hypothetical fight has prompted many prominent figures in boxing to weigh in, with Oscar De La Hoya, the head of Golden Boy, recently suggesting that Crawford would make Alvarez “look like a child.” De La Hoya used to promote Alvarez, but they parted ways acrimoniously in 2020.
Crawford has been particularly keen on fighting Alvarez, calling it one of the biggest blockbusters in the sport.
“Canelo vs Crawford is the biggest fight in boxing,” Crawford wrote in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). “There’s no fighter out there that’s a bigger fight than us.”
Alvarez is currently scheduled to defend his 168-pound belts against undisputed 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Crawford is headed toward a rematch with Spence later this year, but it remains unclear exactly when and which weight it will take place at.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.