Days after Terence Crawford changed his stance to say he’d move up three divisions to fight Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds, the once-disinterested Mexican superstar has changed his tune as well.
In an interview with BoxingScene.com, the undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez said he’d be open to facing the undisputed welterweight champion Crawford if the Nebraska native’s comments indeed carried serious weight.
“Look, I respect Crawford. He’s a great fighter. I always say that. No disrespect to him,” Alvarez told BoxingScene.com. “But you know, sometimes it’s a little crazy, the people talking about how I’m going to face too small of a fighter like [the 154-pound] Charlo, which he’s big [at 5 feet 11 inches tall]. Everybody is talking about if I’m going to face Crawford, a fighter at 147 [pounds] who is smaller than Charlo. So it does not make sense when you guys say right now. I don’t understand … At the end of the day I want to have credit to face Crawford, right, no matter what. But, you never know. You never know in boxing. I will go up and down and fight everybody out there. So, it’s possible. Why not? It’s possible. If it makes sense, I am down to do it. I don’t care who is there. I am always able to fight everybody.”
Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs) originally rejected the idea of a clash with Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) because Crawford wanted the fight at a catchweight of 160 or 158 pounds.
Soon after, Crawford clarified his position around the potential fight and said he’d indeed pack on 21 pounds and move up to 168 pounds for the chance to prove himself against Alvarez.
“No, 168. Yeah [I want to move up to super middleweight]. Yeah, if [Alvarez beats Jermell Charlo on Sept. 30]. Yeah. Or Charlo. The winner. I want to be a three-time undisputed [champion],” said Crawford.
“I know I want to fight Jermell. But if he loses to Canelo, I always say, man. That’s a big step. That’s a big step but for a person to go up three weight classes from 147 to 168, and to win, and to become undisputed, wow.”
A fight between Alvarez, 33, and Crawford, 35, might not be as far-fetched as it may seem when you further dive into the tale of the tape and the fact that both fighters are also currently tied to Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.
Alvarez and Crawford each stand at 5 foot 8 inches tall, and Crawford sports a 3 ½ inch reach advantage.
The four-division champion (154, 160, 168, 175 pounds) Alvarez started his career in 2005 at 139 pounds, and the three-division champion Crawford (135, 140, 147) started his career in 2007 at 137 pounds.
Alvarez has been fighting at larger weights for a longer time, however. He last fought at 147 pounds in 2010, 154 pounds in 2016, and 160 pounds in 2019. He also has fought twice at 175 pounds.
If size does not indeed matter for Crawford, then a super fight could be in store for 2024.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.