Tim Bradley, a former world champion turned pundit, has made a bold claim about potential challengers for Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. Bradley believes that Terrence Crawford is the only fighter, aside from Dmitry Bivol, who could give Canelo real problems in the ring.
Canelo has had an impressive career since his pro debut as a teenager. He's racked up 63 wins and only 2 losses in 65 professional fights. The Mexican star rarely looks in trouble and hasn't been put down in any fight. His first loss came early in his career against the more experienced Floyd Mayweather. The second was a points defeat to Dmitry Bivol in 2022 when Canelo stepped up to light heavyweight.
Right now, Canelo holds the unified super middleweight champion status. He's set to defend his titles against Edgar Berlanga in September. But many boxing fans want to see him take on tougher challengers, like David Benavidez.
In a recent interview, Bradley shared his thoughts on who could really test Canelo:
"Crawford's a bad mama jamma, I don't care how you look at it. We can sit here and say he can't beat Canelo or can't beat Boots. I think it's an extremely tough fight but I still think that Crawford can get it done. Out of any other fighter in the game outside of Bivol, I think Crawford is the only guy who can give him problems, still, even after seeing the Madrimov fight."
Bradley admits there are concerns about Crawford taking punches from a bigger puncher like Canelo. He points out that Canelo's power "will land it has you second-guessing yourself cause all it takes is one". But he's impressed by Crawford's skills, mentality, tenacity, and dedication.
Crawford recently moved up to 154lbs and became a world champion in his first fight in the division against Israil Madrimov. He didn't knock out Madrimov early as many expected, but he warmed into the fight and dominated the later rounds.
Now, Crawford wants to fight Canelo. But that bout seems unlikely at the moment, according to Riyadh Season's Turki Alalshikh. Crawford seems ready to wait it out rather than face anyone else.
Bradley wraps up his assessment with a strong statement: "I give him a damn good chance of upsetting the apple cart." It's clear he sees something special in Crawford that could potentially trouble even a fighter of Canelo's caliber.
