Former super middleweight world champion George Groves spoke to Action Network and said the following:
There is no way Terence Crawford will beat Canelo Alvarez.
Father time catches up on everyone but Canelo is picking the right fights with ‘no jeopardy’ involved.
Only challenge for Canelo is to move up in weight and rematch Dmitry Bivol.
I = InterviewerGG = George Groves
I: How do you see Canelo vs Crawford going?
GG: I can’t see how Canelo can’t win. He’s had a lot of fights now but there doesn’t seem to be too many miles on the clock. Canelo is not a fighter who is finished and it’s a sort of catchweight fight with Terence Crawford moving up two divisions. Canelo is not the tallest or the biggest super middleweight but has comfortably been there long enough that he has filled out now in that division. Crawford has only recently moved up and fought at super welterweight and is now moving up.
I can’t see him putting any physical dent in Canelo. He’s an amazing fighter Crawford, he’s an astute, clever boxer who has almost every shot in the book. His balance is tremendous, but I think it is a step too far. It is not like Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn where the caveat in this is that Benn is younger and fresher while Eubank Jr is way past his best and is too tight at the weight which makes it a 50/50 fight. It should’ve been an 80/20 fight whereas it was a 50/50 fight. Canelo v Crawford, I see it as an 80/20 fight and if they fought 10 times, you’re lucky if Crawford beats him twice. He’s too big and a quality operator.
I: Is this the best chance to beat Canelo though due to his previous performances?
GG: As Canelo is getting older, like everything catches up with you but it is a hard one to gauge (on Canelo being past his peak) because the William Scull fight, he didn’t want to engage and was moving so what could Canelo do? I think the desire to put on a show like he used to, isn’t the same and why would it be when you’ve had big fight after big fight and made all of that money? You’re now there to win and at this point, if his options are Terence Crawford who is moving up two weight divisions, Jake Paul who has never really had a proper fight and Chris Eubank Jr, then there’s no real threat or jeopardy.
He’s going to have to go up in weight and fight a Benavidez or a Bivol again to be tested. Every year that goes by is a better time to fight Canelo, but he likes to load up, knock you out and is very different to Floyd Mayweather. As he got older, he was very acute, got harder to hit and more effective and have a shutout points win. Canelo on the other hand still wants to put meat on his punches and if he can get the job early then he will. Canelo will have to be on his A-game and won’t want to get beat by Terence Crawford as that will send shockwaves through the boxing world.
I: How would you have got on against Canelo?
GG: You always have to back yourself. On my day, I believe I was extremely difficult to beat. I’d have had a lot of height and range on Canelo. You have to have a good jab against Canelo because otherwise he’s going to march you down, walk you into range and let’s his hands go. He puts his combinations together really well, I never sparred him but he must be able punch hard and take a shot, just look at his fights against big guys against Gennady Golovkin and Dmitry Bivol, and big guys who he has held his own with. He has been beaten by people but never bashed up by people. I’d like to say I would’ve beaten him and found a way to beat him. You have to keep him at double distance, not let him close the range and when he gets in close, single shots and then off I go. He will have to walk through a right hand or two to get into range. I’d like to think I would’ve given him a run for his money.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
Discover more from FightBook MMA
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
