Brian Norman Jr.'s personal interactions with Terence Crawford aren’t solely responsible for him picking him to upset Canelo Alvarez.

The unbeaten WBO welterweight champion considers himself a Canelo fan as well. Based on what he has seen from both recently, however, Norman is convinced Crawford is more than capable of outpointing the Mexican icon when they fight for Alvarez’s Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles Sept. 13 at a venue to be determined.

Most sportsbooks have Alvarez listed as approximately a 2-1 favorite to win, in part because Crawford will move up two weight classes — from 154 pounds to 168 — to become a champion in a fifth division.

"I actually got my boy Crawford on that," Norman told The Ring. "I feel like what I just said about my mental [makeup], how dedicated I am to the game or whatever, Crawford is in this thing, regarding how dedicated he is to this boxing stuff. He is disciplined.

"He is another one of those disciplined fighters along with Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Marvin Hagler that are just straight disciplined to the game of boxing year-round. So, I feel he definitely got the attitude and mentality to go out there and beat Canelo."

Multidimensional, smart and tenacious, Crawford remains undefeated 17 years into his professional career (41-0, 31 KOs). The Omaha, Nebraska, native is 37, yet still occupies the third spot on The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, behind only Ring/WBA/WBC/WBO heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) and undisputed junior featherweight champ Naoya Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs).

Norman gained invaluable experience when he sparred with Crawford in September 2021. Crawford checks in on Norman (27-0, 21 KOs, 1 NC) from time to time and attended his last fight — a third-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Derrick Cuevas (27-2-1, 19 KOs) on March 29 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Five weeks later, Norman fell asleep during the second round of Alvarez's unfathomably boring 12-round, unanimous points victory over Cuba's William Scull (23-1, 9 KOs).

"I was watching the fight," Norman said. "Next thing I know, I wake up and it's Terence Crawford and Canelo doing the face-off with each other. I didn't know what was going on. But I went back and watched the highlights of the fight, to find out there was no highlights. I know for a fact Crawford not going for that."

Alvarez's uninspiring performance May 3 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reinforced Norman’s concerns about how Alvarez, 34, approaches his career these days. Guadalajara's Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) is No. 8 on The Ring's pound-for-pound list, but his unenthusiastic outing versus Scull and his unwillingness to box undefeated David Benavidez have drawn intense criticism.

"The crazy part is I'm actually a Canelo fan as well,” Norman said. "I feel like just over time ... he on the decline. He not doing the stuff he used to do. Him versus Cotto is my favorite Canelo fight. He had the head movement, the feet, the defense. He was literally doing all the combos.

"Lately, he been having the silk sheets and silk this and silk that, and it's like he don't want it as bad as he used to. Just because you made weight and you got this and you got that, that don't mean nothing. Push yourself how you used to. So, Canelo my dog, but lately he been slipping."

Norman, of Conyers, Georgia, is The Ring’s No. 1 welterweight contender for champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC), who also owns the IBF and WBA 147-pound championships. Norman, 24, is scheduled to defend his WBO belt, a crown Crawford vacated last year to move up to junior middleweight, against Japanese contender Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) on June 19 at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.