Demetrius Andrade thinks Canelo Alvarez is too big, strong and technical for Terence Crawford to move up to super middleweight and challenge him for his three titles the way he is pressing.
Too big, too strong
Former two-division world champion Andrade feels he is too big for the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to move up two weight classes from 154 to have a chance to defeat WBA, WBC and WBO 168. – lb champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs).
The Nebraska native, Crawford, is campaigning to move up to 168 to fight Canelo without any experience in the weight class before. He just wants the world title shot at him without providing himself first by beating the main contenders waiting in line, such as David Morrell, David Benavidez, Christian Mbilli and Diego Pacheco.
It wouldn’t be a problem if Terence was willing to suddenly win the title by beating those four fighters standing in front of him, but he doesn’t want to do that. He wants Canelo right on his credentials from what he did in other weight classes.
If you look at the resume of Crawford, there is not much for the eye to see other than beating the car accident, Errol Spence, injured. The other semi-decent win on Crawford’s resume came against Israil Madrimov, but he almost lost to him and looked poor, eating right hands all night.
Crawford moved up to 154 last summer on August 3 and scrapped with a close 12-round unanimous decision win over Madrimov. This was a fight that Terence could have easily lost if Madrimov had put his foot on the accelerator in the last three rounds of choosing to throw. Even in defeat, Madrimov made Crawford look old and made it clear that he had reached his ceiling. Can’t go from 154 to 160 or 168 without losing.
Canelo’s advantages
“Yes, I believe so. I like Crawford. He’s a good friend, and we get along. But when it comes to weight and power, that shit is true,” said Demetrius Andrade to Fight Hub TV when asked if Canelo Alvarez is too big for Terence Crawford.
“Skills too. Canelo’s not a pushover. Look what he did to the girl, (Jermell) Charlo. Charlo was the big bad wolf and he got away with a couple of hooks all night. Canelo threw a couple of hooks , and he’s right all night. Where is this (intensity and bravery)?
“I think Crawford has the skills, but when it comes to taking shots and blocking, power shots, and Canelo also knows how to move. He has agility. He’s not like a robot. He’s going to be tough. My opinion is the my opinion. I don’t think Crawford can beat Canelo,” Andrade said.
Crawford is too small to fight at 168 against Canelo. The fight would only be about money, and it would be similar to when Canelo defended his super middleweight title against Jermell Charlo last year in September. Jermell worked his way back up from 154 and got a title shot against Canelo without proving himself.
He ran all night after feeling Canelo’s power in the first round, and the fans felt torn after that. It was a joke. If Jermell had tried to prove himself by fighting Benavidez or Morrell, he would have been eliminated by a one-sided loss or a KO loss, and the fans wouldn’t be disappointed to see him get to Canelo. In the real world, Crawford should earn a title shot against Canelo like the other contenders, but he’s looking for a shortcut to get the giant payday. It’s pathetic and wrong for the sport.
“Do I think he can put up a good fight? I’ll be sitting here rooting for Crawford all day,” Andrade said of Crawford. “I always bet on black, always, but the reality is that Canelo knows how to fight. He knows how to come up big, and he knows how to throw hard shots.
“He’s a technical guy too. Look what he did to Callum Smith – elbows, arms, all those other types of things. He’ll use those same tactics on a smaller guy (Crawford). I’m just saying . I’m just talking about real facts about boxing. I’m not trying to be in this fantasy world because that’s not what I’m about,” Andrade said.
