Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez has questioned Terence Crawford's undefeated record. The Mexican superstar believes Crawford either lost or drew his fight against Israil Madrimov last August.
Crawford, known as 'Bud', has won all 41 of his professional fights. He's a four-weight world champion and became the undisputed welterweight king when he beat Errol Spence Jr in 2023. In August, he moved up to 154 pounds and won the WBA World title from Madrimov.
The fight with Madrimov was close. Crawford landed 11 more punches overall and threw more in seven of the twelve rounds. The judges scored it 116-112 and 115-113 twice in Crawford's favor. But some people, including promoter Eddie Hearn, felt Crawford didn't do enough to win.
Canelo shared his thoughts on the fight in a recent interview.
"For me, I think he lost. He lost the fight. Or draw, it could be the other side. He knows [now] why there is weight classes."
Crawford ended his eleven-fight knockout streak against Madrimov. It was his first step towards higher weight classes as he aims to become a five-weight world champion by facing Canelo at 168 pounds.
Many boxing experts think jumping up to super-middleweight is too much for Crawford. He'll need to gain 14 pounds efficiently to have a chance against the naturally bigger Canelo.
Canelo is getting ready to fight William Scull in a unification bout at super-middleweight in May. Meanwhile, Crawford is staying in the gym and focusing on adding weight for their potential mega-fight later this year.
If Crawford beats Canelo, it will go down as one of the biggest wins in recent boxing history. But first, he'll have to prove Canelo wrong about his undefeated record and show he can handle the bigger weight class.
