Home Boxing News Terence Crawford has genuine chance at beating Canelo Alvarez, says leading trainer

Terence Crawford has genuine chance at beating Canelo Alvarez, says leading trainer

Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez. Photo credit: talkSPORT

Undisputed welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 40-0 (31) is the type of exceptional talent that can box outside of his natural weight class and still win.

And not just against fringe contender either, but against legitimate pound-for-pound level talent.

Top trainer Kevin Cunningham is so impressed with the skills of Crawford that he believes the 35-year-old switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska cant not only compete with undisputed super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, but potentially beat him.

Mexican superstar Alvarez 59-2-2 (39) is slated to defend his belts against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo 35-1-1 (19) in Las Vegas on September 30 while Crawford made surprisingly easy work of previously undefeated unified 147-pound champion Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-1 (22) in Las Vegas back in July.

Before his latest win the idea of Crawford jumping up three full weight classes — or 21 pounds — to challenge Alvarez seemed ludicrous. Now, it seems to make perfect sense.

You can count Cunningham amongst the believers.

“I wasn’t surprised that Bud won the fight,” Cunningham told the Showtime Boxing Podcast. “But I was surprised at how easily and how he dominated Errol. I mean, I looked at it as a 50-50 fight. But I knew Bud was special.

“And I think that if he fights the winner of Canelo and Charlo, he’s got an excellent chance to beat either one of those guys. He’s that special of a fighter. So, you know, that’s how I feel about Terence Crawford.”

Few boxers can venture far outside of their natural weight class and still achieve success, much less at the highest level. But occasionally rare talents emerge that can overcome naturally bigger men based on skills and ring IQ alone.

Cunningham is adamant that Crawford is cut from this cloth.

“I don’t just think a smaller fighter can beat a bigger fighter,” he explained. “I think a special fighter with a special skill set and the proper boxing IQ [neutralises] the size advantage or weight advantage.

“If you’re special, if you’re a specially gifted fighter, size really doesn’t matter when you’re especially gifted, the way Terence Crawford is, the way Floyd Mayweather was, the way Pernell Whitaker was.

“So I mean size doesn’t play a major role when you’re dealing with guys that are especially gifted like that. And Terence Crawford is special like that.”

Cunningham has a right to be bullish about Crawford’s chances. After winning the WBO lightweight title he became the undisputed champion at junior welterweight before achieving the same at welterweight, becoming the first undisputed male world champion in two weight classes in the four-belt era.

Defeating the winner of Alvarez vs Charlo would be a victory for the ages. No one is saying it would be easy, but as Crawford has proven time and time again, write him off at your peril.