Billed as the boxing match of the decade, Saturday, Sept. 13’s bout between Terrence “Bud” Crawford and Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez lived up to the hype. In front of a sold-out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Crawford tactically outdueled the now-former super middleweight champion and cemented his claim as one of boxing’s all-time greats. He also became the first male boxer in the four-belt era to be an undisputed champion in three separate weight classes—junior welterweight, welterweight, and super middleweight.
The story coming into the fight was Crawford’s jump in weight classes. Crawford had fought most of his career at 135 and 147 pounds. For this fight, he moved all the way up to 168 to take on Canelo. There was serious doubt about whether or not Crawford could survive Canelo’s strength and throw powerful enough punches to match him. Despite many believing Crawford to be the better fighter pound-for-pound, questions surrounding how he would look at super middleweight, coupled with Canelo’s overwhelming body of work, meant Crawford entered the bout as a +140 underdog.
The early rounds proved to be a chess match between two experienced fighters, with Crawford trying to find his jab and get comfortable moving in and out of the pocket with Canelo. Conversely, Canelo came out patient, looking to evade openings for a counterpuncher as good as Crawford. He also utilized body shots to make Crawford fear his power. Crawford was slightly more successful in these rounds, finding openings to land his jabs while remaining comfortable with Canelo’s press. Anytime Canelo landed a shot, Crawford would respond with a combo of two or three strikes.
The action picked up in rounds five and six, with Canelo landing his most significant strikes up to that point. Crawford, however, seemed to grow more comfortable fighting a close-range fight, escaping the corner and landing a hard straight that sent Canelo’s head rearing back. The seventh round saw the first true fighting on the inside, with Crawford now on the initiative. Canelo seemed to grow frustrated with Crawford’s movement, in tandem with his highly anticipated body shots being mostly ineffective.
The best action of the fight came early in the ninth round. Canelo came out more aggressive than ever, but Crawford quickly caught him with a combo. The two then traded blows, with Crawford’s shots landing cleaner and more frequently. From that exchange onward, Crawford, who knew he had the advantage on the scorecards, exuded confidence. Continuing to use his movement to prevent Canelo from opening him up, he was able to float beautifully between his jabs and get on the inside with the well-placed uppercuts.
The 11th and 12th rounds saw Canelo attempt to dig deep and land some well-placed overhands. As was the story of the fight, however, Crawford’s movement and counterpunches proved to be too much. Canelo would throw, and Crawford would respond by going on the attack, confident that Canelo could not seriously hurt him. Commentator Max Kellerman remarked that despite being up on the scorecards, Crawford had earned the right to continue being aggressive with the powerful Canelo. In perhaps the defining moment of the fight, Canelo feinted an overhand left and threw a straight right. Crawford slipped it, responding with a vicious left hook, leaving Canelo shaking his head.
The fight would end with a unanimous decision in favor of Crawford, making him the undisputed super middleweight champion. The win advanced his professional record to 42-0. In the post-fight presser, the ever classy Canelo had nothing but praise for his opponent, who he claimed was “way better than Floyd (Mayweather).” With a resume stacking up against many of the greats, Crawford has certainly earned his place among them.
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