LAS VEGAS – Whether it has been adjusting to a heavier frame or clearing out two weight divisions, Terence Crawford has always adhered to the principle that boxing is meant to be a continued and renewed challenge.
It’s why, he says, that he has manifested this opportunity to move up two more weight classes and fight fellow four-division champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a bout being finalized for September.
“That’s what great fighters are all about – testing yourself against all the odds,” Crawford told BoxingScene in an exclusive interview Friday at The Cosmopolitan after attending his gym mate Steven Nelson’s main-event weigh-in for Saturday night’s bout against Alvarez’s WBO No. 1-ranked contender, Diego Pacheco.
Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs), successfully moved up from being undisputed welterweight champion after battering and stopping former three-belt champion Errol Spence Jnr in 2023 to edge previously unbeaten and younger former WBA junior middleweight titleholder Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision in August.
Now, Crawford pursues the sport’s most popular fighter in Alvarez, 62-2-2 (39 KOs), a proud Mexican who until recently stood as undisputed super middleweight champion.
Crawford knows what critics are saying – and that fuels him.
“People say, ‘You’re too small’ or ‘You’re outmatched’ or ‘You don’t belong in the ring with these types of fighters.’ That’s when great fighters perform their best,” he said.
“I’m going to feel great [at 168]. I don’t need to worry about the weight. I know I’m going to feel great,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of things to prepare on. That’s part of boxing – [meeting] milestones you’ve got to hit. We’re going to be well prepared when that time comes.”
Asked what he sees as his advantages against the granite-chinned Alvarez, who has lost only to Dmitry Bivol in a 175lbs title bout and Floyd Mayweather Jnr when Alvarez was 23, Crawford pointed to the identity he has built as America’s best fighter of the past decade and its most savage finisher.
“Man, we’re going to see come fight time what my advantage is,” Crawford said. “I’m the type of guy who likes to feel my fighters out and adjust to what they’re doing.
“I think that’s my greatest attribute, to be able to figure out every opponent I’ve faced thus far. I’m looking to do the same come fight time when the Canelo fight happens.”
For so long, Crawford, now 37, was locked in a multi-fight contract with promoter Top Rank that allowed the best welterweights fighting for rival promoter Premier Boxing Champions to avoid him, depriving him of the top-caliber opponents he sought to share the ring with in lucrative bouts, especially at 147lbs.
Now, Saudi Arabia power broker Turki Alalshikh has invested deeply in his respect and admiration for Crawford, making him the main-event fighter in Alalshikh’s US debut card in August and working through some friction with Alvarez to bring this immense showdown close to fruition.
“I’m definitely grateful for what Turki has done in the sport of boxing, making all the biggest fights happen, making all of these fan-friendly fights,” Crawford said. “He’s a big fan himself. So he’s putting forth so much into making the fights that everyone wants to see by putting the money behind it.
“I’m very happy with how things are headed and excited about where everything’s going.”
Lance Pugmire is BoxingScene’s senior U.S. writer and an assistant producer for ProBox TV. Pugmire has covered boxing since the early 2000s, first at the Los Angeles Times and then at The Athletic and USA Today. He won the Boxing Writers’ Association of America’s Nat Fleischer Award in 2022 for career excellence.
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