Former undisputed champions Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford to fight in September

When you talk about Saul ‘ Canelo ‘ Alvarez, and look at what he has achieved since debuting as a fifteen-year-old boy, to now as a thirty-five-year-old man, it is easy to run out of superlatives.

The same goes for Terence ‘ Bud ‘ Crawford.

The words Legend, Superstar, Undisputed Champion, and Pound for pound great have been thrown around by boxing scribes for decades, but we rarely hear fighters being described as special. Crawford and Alvarez are that, but they are both extraordinary in what they have achieved in their lives as boxers.

Crawford began boxing at seven years old in a local gym in Omaha, Nebraska. He campaigned in seventy contests before turning professional in 2008.

Alvarez came from a fighting family, following his brother’s to the gym every day where he would watch them train and spar. He was thirteen when he started boxing in the amateurs. After forty-six contests, Alvarez turned professional in 2005. He was fifteen years old.

In 2014, after racking up an impressive 22-0 win streak, Crawford traveled to Glasgow, Scotland to challenge the proud WBO lightweight champion, Ricky Burns. The durable champion was outboxed and outgunned as Crawford took his heart and his title, beating him on points to win his first world title.

Good wins over Yuriorkis Gamboa, Raymundo, Crawford moved up to fight Thomas Dulorme for the WBO light welterweight title in Texas. Crawford battered Dulorme to win in the sixth round to become a two weight world champion.

Crawford went on to defend his light welterweight title by beating the tremendously tough Ukrainian boxer, Victor Postol, for the WBC light welterweight title and the Ring belt in 2016. After more defences, he faced Julius Indongo for his WBC, WBO, belts along with the IBF title, knocking him out with a body shot in the third round.

In 2018, Crawford moved up to challenge the Australian brawler, Jeff Horn, for his newly won WBO welterweight title. Crawford dismantled and outclassed the champion to win a world title in a third weight class.

Crawford went on to beat Amir Khan, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter in big wins. It was now 2022, and next up was David Avanesyan. Crawford knocked him out in the sixth round to retain his WBO welterweight title, and this win was instrumental in securing a mega fight with the unified welterweight champion of the world, Errol Spence Jr.

Going into the fight, many insiders had Spence being too big, too fast, and too powerful for Crawford. I picked Crawford to dominate and control the fight, and my view was that Spence was going into the fight as a damaged fighter. I thought Crawford would target Spence’s eye, and he did, beating the unified champion to a pulp to become the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.

After a year off, Crawford moved up to challenge the WBO junior middleweight champion, Israil Madrimov in 2024. Madrimov was a decorated amateur with 350 contests under his belt, and he was unbeaten as a professional. The man from Uzbekistan was well schooled, and he was as hard as a rock.

Crawford boxed well, countering Madrimov and winning well on the inside, but the champion fought with pride and determination to take Crawford the distance in a tremendous fight. Crawford won on all three scorecards to become a world champion in a fourth weight class. Terence Crawford is 41-0 with 31 KOs.

Saul Alvarez won his first world title in his thirty-seventh fight. He beat the English fighter, Matthew Hatton, on points to claim the vacant WBC junior middleweight championship in 2011.

After knockout wins over Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, and Kermit Cintron, he was matched to fight Shane Mosley in 2012. Alvarez fought with patience and maturity against the dangerous and experienced Mosley, winning on points in Las Vegas.

After beating Josesito López and Austin Trout and adding the WBA and the Ring junior middleweight belts, he took the challenge of facing Floyd 

Mayweather.

Mayweather was too good on the inside, too smart on the outside, and too fast for Alvarez, beating him on points in 2013.

In March 2014, Alvarez returned to fight the tough Alfredo Angulo, beating him in ten rounds before fighting Erislandy Lara in a closely fought match that he won by a disputed split decision. Next up was the powerful James Kirkland, but Alvarez’s pressure, speed, and power proved to be too much, knocking him out in the third round to set up a fight with the Puerto Rican great Miguel Cotto.

This was a huge fight for both champions, and at stake was the vacant WBC middleweight championship of the world. Cotto had been beaten by Mayweather and Austin Trout in 2012, and he had been in brutal fights in a long career; and he was going into this fight with Alvarez as a big underdog in this, his forty-fifth fight.

Alvarez and Cotto came out and traded punches for twelve tremendous rounds, but in the end, the speed, timing, and punch variety proved to be the difference. Alvarez countered Cotto with big right hands, uppercuts, and hard body shots to win by a unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

It was now 2016, and Alvarez took on the challenge of the talented boxer, Amir Khan. In the fight, the Mexican was being outboxed until he stepped in with a devastating right hand to the Englishman’s jaw in the sixth round, knocking him out cold. Alvarez then won the WBO junior middleweight title, after breaking down the courageous Liam Smith, battering his body with fast left rips to take him out in the ninth round.

In 2017, Julio Cesar Chavez ( wins 50 ( 32 Kos ), losses 2, and 1 draw) was up next. Spite, testosterone, and Mexican pride and bragging rights were the main themes of this catch weight fight. Nothing more, nothing less. Alvarez dismantled and punished the much bigger Chavez Jnr, taking him the twelve rounds on the Mexican Independence Day weekend in Las Vegas.

Gennady Golovkin had been terrorising the middleweight division for years, and a fight with Alvarez was both lucrative and inevitable. The bout was signed for September 2017 in Las Vegas. In the fight, Golovkin out-thought, out boxed, and out gunned Alvarez, but in the end, Alvarez and Golovkin was declared a split draw.

Golovkin was denied a victory and there was a robbery in the desert. The rematch was on after a twelve-month delay, and this time, Alvarez was declared the winner by a majority decision, winning the WBC, WBA, and the Ring middleweight championship of the world.

From there, Alvarez went on to beat Rocky Fielding at super middleweight and Daniel Jacobs at middleweight in 2019. He stepped up to light heavyweight to challenge Sergey Kovalev for the WBO title. Alvarez stopped Kovalev in the eleventh round.

After beating Callum Smith on points and defending his super middleweight titles, he battered Avni Yildirim in three rounds, destroyed loud-mouthed travelling man, Billy Joe Saunders over eight rounds, and he stopped the tough Caleb Plant in eleven rounds to finish 2021 with a bang as the undisputed champion of the world.

Alvarez ventured back up to 175 to challenge the talented WBA light heavyweight champion, Dmitry Bivol, in May 2022. Bivol fought brilliantly to shut down Alvarez in attack, and he pressured the Mexican by pushing him backwards to the ropes while hitting him with hard combinations that stunned and hurt Alvarez until the final bell. Bivol retained his title.

Alvarez returned to Las Vegas to fight the trilogy fight with Golovkin at super middleweight, and this time, father time and thoughts of retirement and the desire to beat Alvarez were merely punched out of him. Alvarez won by a unanimous decision, retaining his WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and the Ring world titles.

The Mexican superstar continued winning and defending his super middleweight titles, with unanimous points victories over John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Jaime Munguia, Edgar Berlanga, and William Scull.

At thirty-four, and a sixty-seven-fight career, is Alvarez at the end? Of course he is. He has made hundreds of millions by dismantling and knocking his opponents out, but it seems his devastating power has diminished, particularly as the years have passed at super middleweight.

Crawford will be thirty-eight on fight night, but he has had a lot fewer fights and a lot less wear and tear, and he has had eleven stoppage wins going into his most recent fight with the tough Madrimov, so he will be the fresher fighter.

Since 2021, Crawford has fought five times with four stoppage wins. Alvarez has fought in ten fights, and seven of those fights have gone the distance.

There is a lot of talk from insider boxing people, saying Crawford will be too small for super middleweight. That is absolute nonsense. Alvarez is 5’8 with a 70.5 wingspan. Crawford is 5’8 with a 74.0 wingspan.

This fight is all about who can adapt better to the man standing in front of them. Experience is with Alvarez. Skill is with Crawford.

The Fight

Crawford has 31 stoppage wins, and he has been a dominating force since 2008. Alvarez has 39 stoppage wins, but his last TKO was in 2021 at super middleweight. Will Crawford bring his power up two weight divisions? Probably not.

To win, Crawford needs to box and move and stay off the ropes. The jab is the key. Use his jab and double up on it. Crawford has rhythm, balance, and movement, and he can switch effortlessly from southpaw to orthodox. He is the superior boxer and he can punch.

Can he hurt Alvarez? Yes. Can he stop Alvarez? No.

Alvarez is a pressure fighter. A fantastic machine, like a sharpshooter. Will he take advantage of Crawford’s slow-start tactic? Can he outbox Crawford? The answer is no. Will Crawford make him grow old and weary in the fight? Yes.

Crawford by a unanimous decision in this battle of champions.

Gary Todd is an international best-selling author with his books. He has been involved in all aspects of the sport of boxing for decades. Look out for his latest book – coming October 2025.