Ryan Garcia says Canelo Alvarez will “be too big” for Terence Crawford if their fight gets finalized for September on the Mexican Independence Day Holiday weekend in Las Vegas. That’s when and where Mike Coppinger of ESPN says the Canelo-Crawford fight will be.
Garcia says that weight classes are created for a reason. He sees unified super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) as too big for the thin-boned Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who was never a big puncher when he fought at 147.
No Rehydration Clause
He didn’t show any power moving up to 154 last year on August 3rd when he squeaked by WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov. He was obviously well-vetted by Crawford and his team in choosing him, likely knowing he has a low output and is more of a boxer than a high-volume pressure fighter like some of the other top junior middleweights.
Crawford is going to be dealing with a lot, moving up an additional two weight classes to challenge Canelo for his WBA, WBC, and WBO super middleweight titles. Coppinger says there won’t be a rehydration limit, which is bad news for Crawford because that means Canelo can rehydrate into the 180s and have the power that goes along with that kind of weight.
“That’s going to be a great fight. I can’t believe they made that fight happen. Turki has been making a lot of great fights happen. You can’t hate on it,” said Ryan Garcia to Fino Boxing about the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight in September on Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend.
“I’m excited for that. Canelo is so big, so strong. I think he’ll be too big [for Crawford]. Weight classes matter for a reason,” said Garcia.
“If Turki Al-Sheikh is set on seeing a fight that he wants to see, it usually gets done. One that we thought was out of line is Canelo Alvarez against Terence Crawford,” said Bernardo Osuna to the State of Boxing. “How close are we seeing these two pound-for-pound greats inside the ring in 2025?”
“I think we’re definitely in the red zone, using NFL terms,” said Mike Coppinger on the Canelo vs. Crawford fight. “Look, Turki Al-Sheikh and Canelo Alvarez didn’t seem to be on the same page last year. I think everything changed. You had Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford meeting separately with Turki Al-Sheikh last week in London.
“What I’m told is they’re in the process of finalizing this deal for a fight in September on Mexican Independence Day weekend. It’ll be in Las Vegas. It’ll be at the 168-lb limit. No rehydration clause. So, Terence Crawford is going to move up another two weight classes, assuming this gets done, to challenge the biggest star in all of boxing.
“It’s going to be a legacy-defining fight for both guys, and it’s going to be a true Super Fight, the kind of fight that Canelo is used to being in from years past, not what he was in the last years. I think this is a fight that does well over 1 million PPV buys. I can see a $30 million gate. I think by far it’s going to be the best fight that we’re going to see in the last few years, assuming it gets done, and I believe it will,” said Coppinger about the Canelo vs. Crawford clash.
