LAS VEGAS — Coach Eddy Reynoso is predicting that
Canelo Alvarez will knock out
Terence Crawford on Saturday night and that the Mexican star “still has it.”
Crawford’s trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre forecasts a different scenario in which the fight between the pound-for-pound greats is so clearly in their favor that the judges won’t have a difficult time submitting their scorecards for the win.
One of the prognostications will prove to be untrue, and the global audience tuning in on
Netflix will be able to judge for themselves once the opening bell rings at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night.
“Terence has to just be himself. He has the IQ to win. He has the will to win,” McIntyre told
The Ring. “I ain't going to say that [Canelo's best days are behind him]. He probably rises to the level of competition, and this competition right here that he's about to step into the ring with is the highest imaginable.”
Alvarez is seemingly encountering a decline at 35. His last seven fights have reached the final bell, and a 2022 loss to
Dmitry Bivol was sandwiched in between. Although he’s dropped four out of his last five opponents, he hasn’t stopped anyone since knocking out Caleb Plant in 2021.
“We don't know [if his power is overrated],” said McIntyre. “We won't know until we get in the ring with him. He can come out there differently with pillows in his hands.”
Crawford insists he’s not concerned about judging and being announced as the rightful winner, if he deposits a definitive performance against the betting favorite Alvarez.
“That's not my focus,” Crawford said during a press conference Thursday. “My focus is to go out there and do what I do best, and that's to win the fight decisively. That's what I am looking forward to doing on Saturday … I’m here for a reason, and God doesn’t make mistakes.”
Alvarez has received favorable scorecards in the past in close fights.
When he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, one of the judges curiously scored it a draw in a fight Alvarez admitted he lost. For Alvarez’s first two fights against Gennadiy Golovkin, a draw and a majority decision win, judges demonstrated that his opponent needed to go above and beyond reasonable doubt to win close rounds. It can also be argued that the Alvarez-Bivol fight could have been scored wider than the three 115-113 scorecards that were submitted in favor of the Russian.
The judges are Tim Cheatham, Max De Luca and Steve Weisfeld, who most recently worked together to score Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios a
majority draw. Thomas Taylor is the referee.
Crawford and McIntyre aren't losing sleep that they could perhaps suffer the same fate Pernell Whitaker did
when he faced Mexican legends Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya and wound up with unfavorable cards, despite appearing to win those fights.
“Stay tuned for this masterpiece,” said McIntyre. “Confidence [comes from the gym]. We've had to work for this. I love Terence’s energy. It's all about Bud whooping Canelo's ass.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan