Keith Thurman believes Terence Crawford watched the success Jermell Charlo had against Canelo Alvarez and will feel he can do the same if he gets the chance to fight him.
Thurman says Jermell defended himself well in his fight with Canelo last year on September 30, ending the Mexican star’s case. The problem was that Jermall forgot about his offense and ended up losing a 12 round wide decision. He was very focused on movement and grip.
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Old ‘One Time’ Thurman says Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will be watching that fight and will make sure he emphasizes his mistake in defeating Canelo. Keith counts Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dmitry Bivol as two successful fighters against Canelo by fighting the perfect fight to defeat him.
Beating Crawford won’t do anything for Canelo’s legacy because he’s a young, aging fighter looking for a payday, who looked mediocre in his debut at 154 against Israel Madrimov on August 3rd.
What Crawford is Missing
- Power: Crawford’s debut at 154 showed a lack of punching power, and the bright side will be worse at 168.
- Hear on 168: Crawford has never fought at super middleweight, so he will be flying by the seat of his pants against Canelo.
- Chin: In Crawford’s fights at 135 and 140, he’s been beating smaller fighters who don’t have Canelo’s strength.
- Fearlessness: This speaks for itself. Crawford was not attacking Israel Madrimov like a shark, because he was afraid of getting hit. If we face Canelo, the fear he will have could lead to a very intense fight that includes a lot of moves. That’s bad for the fans because they would have to pay for an intense fight.
Canelo wouldn’t get credit from the fans for beating the 37-year-old Crawford because he’s an aging fighter who hasn’t shown the willingness to move up to 168 to prove himself to the Lions, David Benavidez and David Morrell. This is about Crawford looking for a payday to help with his retirement.
“Speed power, high quality defense,” Keith Thurman said at Fighthype about what Terence Crawford will bring to the Canelo Alvarez fight. “When Canelo was fighting [Jermell] Charles. Despite being knocked down, Charlo was able to defend himself from Canelo’s attack.”
“The problem was when he was defending himself, there was no crime. Seeing that, I saw the same thing. If Charlo can go untouched [so can Crawford]. Floyd, Bivol, where are the mistakes? You should get that 10 out of ten. You don’t make mistakes,” Thurman said.
It sounds like Thurman didn’t watch the Canelo vs. Jermell because his recollection of what happened sounds like fiction. Canelo beat Jermell Charlo a lot in that fight. He got hit with everything but the kitchen sink by Canelo, which is why he ran and held all night. It didn’t help.
Canelo criss-crossed the ring and was hitting Jermell with bigger punches than he had landed on Gennadiy Golovkin in their three fights. Jermell’s lack of offense got used to Canelo, who was able to load 100% power on every shot because there was no return.
The move and clinching protected Jermell from the takedown. But he didn’t cover Canelo’s case like Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia did. Canelo was floored by Jermell all night, loading up on one head and body for a wide decision win.
Crawford was able to walk around because he didn’t have the strength or size to fight Canelo. He’s not as big or strong as Jermell, and the guy wasn’t strong enough to compete with Canelo.
Of course, Crawford’s focus in the Canelo fight is not winning. You win by getting a big payday fight. It’s all about money. If Crawford was serious about wanting to beat Canelo, he would have moved up to 168 and gained experience fighting Benavidez, Morrell, and Diego Pacheco.
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