Canelo Alvarez might have grown into his man’s strength but at one point, he was a baby-faced up-and-comer campaigning in a smaller weight class. When he was, he took on longtime veteran, Josesito Lopez.

Being durable is what Lopez (38-9, 21 KOs) built his career on. Against Alvarez, however, at 154 pounds, it was the first time Lopez had his chin permanently dented, resulting in a fifth-round stoppage loss.

Since their showdown nearly 15 years ago, both men went their separate ways. Lopez grabbed a few wins but routinely came up short against elite-level competition. Alvarez, on the other hand, went on to become a multi-division champion and a future Hall of Famer.

Currently, The Ring’s super middleweight title holder and unified champion has taken out most of the division’s top names. So, with little to no options, Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) has taken notice of the faint callouts of Terence Crawford.

Although he competes several divisions below him, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is confident that he can get the job done. Lopez doesn’t like to doubt the pound-for-pound star so he does believe he can put up one helluva fight. But to actually win? Lopez doesn’t think so.

“I think he might be too small to beat Canelo,” Lopez told Sean Zittel recently. “But I don’t think he’s too small to make it a good, interesting fight for the first half to 2/3 of the fight. But I think eventually the size will be too much.”

Crawford, outside of his last fight against Israil Madrimov, hasn't come close to losing a fight. That paired with Alvarez’s mileage, has some believing that he can do more than just give him a run for his money.

Lopez is cognizant that the Mexican star may have lost half a step. But even a somewhat diminished version of him would be a bit too much for a smaller, albeit extremely skilled, fighter.

“I think Canelo has more than enough in the tank to beat a great skilled fighter like Crawford.”