Canelo Alvarez has only lost to legends and if he has to rank those losses, he’s putting Terence Crawford at the top of the list, even over Floyd Mayweather.
On Saturday, Crawford put on a virtuoso performance, moving up in weight to take on Canelo and going on to win a unanimous decision and capture Canelo’s middleweight titles. That made Crawford just the third man ever to defeat Canelo, a list that started with Mayweather back in September 2013.
At the time, Canelo was just 23, over 13 years younger
than Mayweather, and he entered their matchup with an impressive 42-0-1 record. The favored Mayweather went on to outpoint Canelo, but the marquee matchup served to take Canelo’s profile to another level. At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Canelo was asked how Crawford and Mayweather compare, and he didn’t hesitate to answer.
“I think Crawford is way better than Floyd Mayweather,” Canelo said.
Like Mayweather, Crawford sports an undefeated record that improved to 42-0 after defeating Canelo. That leaves him eight shy of Mayweather’s hallowed 50-0 that he retired with in 2017 after a technical knockout of UFC star Conor McGregor (Mayweather has continued to compete in exhibition bouts since retiring).
Canelo was never completely out of his fight with Crawford, but he admitted “Bud” was simply a puzzle he had no answer for.
“We already knew Crawford is a great fighter and I did what I’m supposed to do,” Canelo said. “I tried every way and I tried really hard and he deserves all the credit. I tried my best tonight and I just cannot figure out the style.”
“Everything,” Canelo continued. “He have everything.”
At one point in the feet after Crawford cracked him with a hard jab, Canelo appeared to drop his hands in frustration, perhaps sensing the fight was getting away from him.
He confirmed as much when asked about that moment, explaining that his mind and body weren’t on the same page.
“Sometimes you try and your body cannot go,” Canelo said. “That’s my frustration. Maybe I can figure out Crawford but my body cannot go anymore. So I try it, but my body is not letting me go and you need to accept it. That’s it.”
