Terence Crawford's career-long coach Brian "Bomac" McIntyre couldn't care less about
Canelo Alvarez's power, or the sparring partners he's brought in to prepare for the bout against Bud on
Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Netflix.
Alvarez has made massive waves during the pre-fight buildup by summoning former unified welterweight champion
Jaron “Boots” Ennis into training camp, arguably the closest existing active prototype to Crawford.
“Sparring partners don't mean a damn thing when you step in that ring,” McIntyre told
The Ring. “That [expletive] goes by the wayside. [Sparring with Ennis] don't mean [expletive]. Boots ain't no Crawford. They don't have the mentality. It's not going to help him. He should have just gotten the last cab driver [William Scull] he fought.
“I'm just waiting for Crawford to upset the world. He's going to wreck [him]. We are going to beat his ass. I promise you that. Just watch. He's going to show out. It ain't no cake walk though.”
McIntyre has not been impressed with Alvarez’s recent run, which has featured seven straight decision wins. Alvarez has not been able to stop fighters like
Edgar Berlanga,
Jaime Munguia, and
John Ryder, all of whom were knocked out in separate fights soon after facing Alvarez. Alvarez hasn’t knocked out an opponent since stopping
Caleb Plant in 2021.
While many believe Alvarez's power is going to be too much for the smaller Crawford to handle, Bomac boasts that it won't be enough.
“Who gives a [expletive] about that power?” said McIntyre. “How do you beat power? Speed and timing. [Alvarez's] power is not going to be able to be sustained throughout the fight. He usually slows down between rounds six and seven. When he slows down, that's a wrap. That's when he gets outboxed.”
McIntyre added that he’s not worried about Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) climbing up two weight classes and the physical transformation he’s had to endure to challenge the undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs).
“Crawford should have been at 168 a long time ago,” said McIntyre. “But we took advantage of 135, 140, and 147. If you can make [the weight], let's make it. You can't be mad at him for accomplishing everything that he did and wanting to fight Canelo at 168. Bud walks around big anyway.
“I don't think camp was too much different. Everything went smoothly. He trained the same way. He trained hard. He trains every fight like it's his last fight.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan.