On Sept. 13, Saul “Canelo” Álvarez and Terence “Bud” Crawford faced off against each other in the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in one of the most anticipated events of the year. Millions of fans around the world expected a display of power and skill in the bout.
Alvarez, the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world, faced Crawford, who had to move up two weight classes in order to meet the requirements for this match. However, Crawford was also an undisputed Welterweight world champion. Two legends of the sport faced each other in a historical match that gathered over 41 million viewers on Netflix — one of the largest audiences in boxing broadcast history.
Considering the fact that Crawford was going up by two weight divisions, most analysis, bets, and people favored Alvarez. More than half of the fans believed that the power, size, and experience that Alvarez possessed would be more than enough to keep Crawford at bay and overwhelm him. Alvarez spent many of his pro years dominating bigger and heavier men.
One of the two people that he was unable to put a stop to was Dmitry Bivol, who had a height, weight, and reach advantage over him. However, despite all this, thanks to his fights with greats such as Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Alvarez proved to have an exceptional chin. Although Crawford was undefeated, he would still be sailing in what to him were uncharted waters.
It is stated by many that styles make fights; Alvarez and Crawford highlighted the different aspects of boxing principles. Crawford is what some might consider a technical brawler; always changing tempo, using angles and counters to his advantage, switching style and punches. He is always ready to take the fight to the opponent and go all out without needing to act or look like a straight up slugger.
Alvarez, on the other hand, is better known for taking his time, being patient, counter punching using all his power, cutting off the ring, mostly going for the body, and so on. His past opponents have shown that he is someone who fights patiently, even though he is more than able to take the punishment. He usually tries to avoid direct confrontation.
Crawford is the complete opposite; few are the number of fights where he has not engaged in an exhilarating exchange of blows. One thing was for sure: Crawford’s ring IQ could match Alvarez’s strength.
At the start of the fight, Alvarez lived up to everyone’s expectations. He kept some pressure, a tight guard, landed heavy body blows on Crawford, and forced him back. On paper, the plan seemed simple: pressure Crawford, tire him out. and take him to distance.
Around rounds one to three, Alvarez’s pressure was extremely noticeable; the crowd went crazy every time he landed his iconic left hook. The stats showed that Alvarez had a bit of a power punching advantage, and many unofficial scorecards and people gave him the first couple of rounds. However, this edge would not last for very long.
Around round five, the tide began to turn, and the momentum of the fight was in Crawford’s favor. Crawford slowly began getting used to Alvarez’s style, rhythm, and even timing. Little by little, he started countering those punches that Alvarez had been throwing throughout the fight, even using feints to make Alvarez miss his shots.
Eventually, Crawford used his signature move: switch-hitting. He switched from orthodox to southpaw and began to fire away with uppercuts and jabs. The amount of punches Alvarez threw slowly began to diminish as he was starting to fail at cutting off the ring. By the end of the middle rounds, many fans noticed that the tables had turned. Crawford wasn’t just staying alive; he was starting to take control of the fight.
One of the biggest highlights of the fight was when Alvarez threw a deadly straight that Crawford managed to duck under, then came back up to throw a left hook that landed, turned Alvarez’s face around and pushed him back all at once. However, as stated previously, thanks to his trilogy with Golovkin, many fans know that Alvarez has an iron jaw.
At the end of 12 rounds, the winner was announced, and the new undisputed super middleweight champion of the world was Terence “Bud” Crawford. To understand scoring, fans and non-fans alike need to note that boxing uses a 10-point system. Every round, the winner must earn 10 points while the loser gets nine or below, depending on whether there was a knockdown or not.
The scores are based on clean punches landed, defense, aggression and ring generalship. That means that even though Alvarez landed heavier punches, Crawford’s clean and consecutive punches earned him the win for many of the rounds. According to CompuBox data, Crawford connected about 36 percent of punches while Alvarez landed 33 percent. Giving Crawford the unanimous decision. Unanimous means that all three of the judges agree on the winner.
Fans are completely split; many have remained very respectful towards the decision. While many fans of Alvarez have admitted that Crawford won, even if it was just by a bit.
Alvarez himself stated, “The better man won tonight.”
Crawford’s win has made him the first male fighter to ever become undisputed in three weight divisions, making it clear he is worthy of being considered one of the greatest of all time. As for Alvarez, this is only his third loss in a career that has spawned more than 60 matches. Many believe that he still has gas left in the tank and that a rematch could be in the works.
One thing is for sure: this was a clash of titans.
