Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford will face off in a massive fight for the undisputed super middleweight championship. The two boxing stars will meet on Saturday, September 13, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crawford, known as 'Bud', currently holds the top spot in pound-for-pound rankings based on skill. He's moving up from welterweight for this fight. Last August, Crawford outpointed Israil Madrimov in the super welterweight division. At 37 years old, he's got a chance to make history. If he wins, he'll become the first modern-day male fighter to win undisputed championships in three different weight classes. He's already done it at super-lightweight and welterweight.
Canelo Alvarez sits at number two in the pound-for-pound rankings. He's been fighting at super middleweight for seven years now. During that time, he's beaten some big names like Jermell Charlo, Callum Smith, and Gennady Golovkin. Canelo has been the undisputed champion in this division twice. Before moving up to 168 pounds, he fought at 160.
Claressa Shields, a female boxing star who's won undisputed titles in three divisions herself, thinks Crawford will win. She told Sean Zittel in an interview:
"I think the last few fights I've seen Canelo slow down a little bit … Team Crawford, me. It's gonna be a good one, but Canelo, he's number two pound-for-pound. Pound-for-pound number one is Crawford, and that's skill wise."
Shields doesn't think the weight difference will be a big problem for Crawford. She explained:
"Oh that's beautiful. I'm all the way a heavyweight. That's because I got the skills, the power and everything to pay the bills. Terence Crawford's got the skills to pay the bills, the knockout power. He's very smart in there. And he's sturdy. Now the weight class can matter a little bit, but boxing matters."
Shields believes Crawford's skills, power, and smarts will help him overcome the size difference. She also pointed out that Canelo has slowed down in recent fights.
The fight is less than two months away, and fans are getting excited to see these two champions clash. It's a rare matchup between two of the best fighters in the world, regardless of weight class.
