‘I don’t think Terence Crawford can beat Canelo Alvarez’

Demetrius Andrade has added his voice to the many calls for a fight that would match Saul “Canelo” Alvarez against Terence Crawford. Andrade believes it would be a bridge too far for Crawford to defeat Alvarez at 168lbs.

Crawford, of Omaha, Nebraska, recently moved up from 147lbs to campaign at 154, where last August he decisioned Israil Madrimov in 12 rounds to earn an interim junior welterweight title.

After the win, Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs), publicly targeted Mexico’s Canelo, 62-2-2 (39 KOs), arguably boxing’s biggest superstar and certainly its biggest cash cow. But Andrade thinks moving up two divisions to face a foe of Alvarez’s experience and skill would be too tall an order for Crawford.

“I love Crawford. He’s a good friend,” Andrade said in an interview with Fight Hub TV. “We reach out to each other. We’ve been traveling the world through the amateur program. He saw me beat people up, I saw him beat people up. I think the stories could go on, but when it comes to weight, empowerment, that shit is real.

“Canelo is a big bad wolf and he can run the whole night. I think Crawford has the skills, but when it comes to Saul getting shots and blocking his power shots, Canelo knows how to move, too. He has agility. Not like a robot. I mean, it’s gonna be tough.

“I don’t think Crawford can beat Canelo. But I still think he can give him a good fight. And I’ll be sitting there fuming for Canelo all day.”

No matter his thoughts on the outcome, Andrade described a possible Alvarez-Crawford fight as one of the biggest that can currently be made in boxing.

“That’s a huge fight,” he said. “A lot of fans wanna see it. Like, a lot of trainers I’ve spoken to have said and feel that Terence can bridge the gap between weight and make it even because he’s so damn good with his IQ.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].