Middleweight Aaron McKenna says Terence Crawford would make a better fight for Canelo Alvarez if the match was made at a catchweight of 164 instead of 168.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom)
He sparred with Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and was impressed with his technical skills and power. However, McKenna thinks the power and size of unified super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) would be a problem for Terence unless he agreed to come in a little lower with a catchweight.
164 For a fair fight
Canelo is unlikely to agree to give Crawford, 37, a handicap because he would be the star of his fight, and there is no reason for him to help the younger fighter to give him an advantage. Crawford has talked about wanting to move up to super middleweight to challenge Canelo for his three titles for “legacy” purposes, but if he doesn’t fight at 168lb, that will cloud him.
If Crawford wants the fight with Canelo enough, he will agree to go up to 168 to challenge him. It would be useless for him to expect a handicap to be given to him.
“Canelo is the strongest fighter in the world at 168 at that weight. If he was at a catchweight, I think it would be a really good fight at 164,” said Aaron McKenna at Sean Zittel about Terence Crawford has more than a chance to defeat Canelo Alvarez if he is given a handicap by the contestants who are held four lb under the 168 lb limit.
“Crawford definitely has the skills to give him a lot of trouble, and he has the timing and the range. It’s just that if he can keep up with Canelo’s strength, but I think it would be a very good fight. 168, yes, but I think it would be even better if it was at a catchweight to do more on the line.
“He’s hard to catch. You have to be calculated. You can’t fail. You can’t overreach. It has to be perfect sparring,” McKenna said of Crawford.
