One of the biggest fights in recent boxing history is nearly a month away from coming to fruition. Canelo Alvarez, the “face of boxing” until stated otherwise, will be taking on many fans’ pound-for-pound king, Terence Crawford.
“Bud” has a lot of backers at the moment, given that Alvarez hasn’t truly dominated in recent bouts like he used to. The reservation many have about backing Crawford comes down to him having to move up from 154 pounds to 168 pounds for the fight. But Crawford is chasing greatness, and some fellow boxers believe he’ll pull it off, including Shakur Stevenson.
Shakur Stevenson is very confident “southpaw” Terence Crawford will cause Canelo Alvarez problems
While speaking to Ring Magazine, Stevenson was adamant that Crawford is going to end up winning, disregarding the concerns of many others that moving up two weight classes will be too much for “Bud”. Instead, Stevenson sees a major weakness in Canelo’s game that Crawford is set to exploit.
Bud being a southpaw makes it a little harder for Canelo. I think Canelo has some kind of trouble with southpaws. When I watched him fight John Ryder, he wasn’t that good. It’s just that Canelo was fighting against a southpaw, and it made it a little bit harder.
Stevenson also recounted that he has been saying since 2023 that Crawford is the only boxer in the weight class that can beat Canelo. It was after the John Ryder fight that Stevenson began feeling that sure of it.
It’s true that Alvarez didn’t look the best against Ryder. It was an underwhelming performance in the heart of Canelo’s hometown, but Canelo has looked much better since then. Ryder is also a natural southpaw, while Crawford likes to use both stances. But Stevenson seems extremely confident Crawford will cause Alvarez enough trouble to win in the end.
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