The boss has spoken. The promoter who has invested a million-dollar sum to carry out the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford has said that the minimum he expects for this fight is that blood runs in the ring. This was made clear by Turki Alalshikh at a press conference. He made it clear that he wants both of them to give a good beating in their main event, the undisputed super middleweight championship fight, on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Who was that statement for? As will be remembered, Canelo Alvarez’s last fight against Cuban William Scull was one of the most boring of the year and for the Mexican himself, where the Caribbean fighter ran around the ring without getting into an exchange of blows. Terence Crawford had already mentioned that he does not run, he is a very strong boxer and whoever looks for him will get what they deserve.
Terence Crawford rejects Turki Alalshikh’s order
Terence Crawford, who will arrive as an undefeated fighter with a record of 41 wins and 30 by KO, countered the Arab Sheikh, saying: “I’m not going to let anyone force me or tell me how to fight when I’ve fought all my life”.
The Saudi Arabian promoter may have chosen the wrong opponent for Canelo to fight and avoid a “Tom and Jerry” type fight, as Crawford has been a moving fighter throughout his career. Even in his last fight against Israil Madrimov, Crawford moved around a lot. The fight looked like a chess match.
It’s fine if you’re one of the few fans who likes to watch technical battles, but the average fan was bored by that fight. It was like watching one of Shakur Stevenson’s fights. It’s hard for a veteran boxer like Crawford, who is about 38 years old, to change his style at his age. He’s not young, and asking him to fight in a style he rarely uses would be too much. Terence is inflexible.
Turki put up the money and demands a legendary fight
At the conference, Turki Alalshikh stressed that he hates fights where the fighters run away and run around so as not to break their nails. “As I said last week, I hate Tom and Jerry boxing. I’m sure they’ll give it their all, with a shattered face and blood. This is boxing. I don’t want to force a 12×12 in the ring or anything like that for this great fight”. Crawford’s open resistance to Turki is a sign that he cannot change his style, even if he wanted to, unless Canelo was physically shattered.
Finally, Turki does not have to worry about Canelo, at least, turning the fight into a “Tom and Jerry” style duel, because the one who is expected to end the fight on the night of September 13 will be the one who generates the most heat. Canelo has the real size and power advantage in this fight. Although Crawford has moved up in weight, that doesn’t mean he’s going to hit harder. It won’t make him a natural 75-kilogram fighter. It’s the extra weight that will slow him down, making him slower, easier to hit and tiring him out faster. He would have been better off being lean, despite his welterweight size, to have an advantage in speed.
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