The fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford left the boxing world in awe. However, the post fight ramifications have done the same. In fact, the Mexican, who is the only fighter to ever fight both Bud and Floyd Mayweather Jr., made a comparison of the two.
Alvarez said Crawford is “way better” than Mayweather. However, now it’s Crawford the one reacting to this statement. The new champ appeared on the Ariel Helwani Show to speak his mind about this subject.
“[Canelo] was in the ring with both of us. People can say what they want, but he’s actually been in the ring with both of us. One he felt like he was at the best and another where he felt like he was at a disadvantage with a rehydration clause when he was younger,” Crawford said. “I don’t go off of that. Floyd is the best fighter in his era and I feel like I’m the best fighter in my era.”
Canelo fought both in very different contexts
When Canelo fought Mayweather, the overall sentiment is that he was outclassed. Canelo was only 23 when he fought Floyd and he couldn’t hit him. Mayweather was just too good, too smooth, too fast for the Mexican. Another caveat was the rehydration clause for that bout that played in Floyd’s favor.
With Crawford, it was prime vs. prime, no rehydration clause, but Crawford was just too clinical and moved too much for Canelo to be comfortable. The tempo was never the one that the Mexican tried to impose.
If Crawford stays active, he could tie Mayweather
Right now, Crawford’s record is 42-0 with 31 KOs. Floyd retired with an umblemished 50-0 record to his name. Now, Crawford already has more knockouts than Floyd, who had 27.
As for Crawford, he is 37 years old and is eight fights away from Floyd’s record. Now, if Crawford stays active, he could possibly get to the 50-0 mark himself. The quality of opponents is what is in question though. Crawford already beat Canelo and Errol Spence Jr., arguably the best tests he could face. Hence, any future opponent won’t be as highly regarded as his most recent ones.