Stephen A. Smith is never scared to share his opinions, no matter how controversial they are.
The ESPN analyst has now picked a side ahead of the biggest boxing fight 2025 has to offer.
Canelo Alvarez will face Terence Crawford in an undisputed super middleweight title fight on September 13.
‘Bud’ is the underdog in the eyes of many, but Stephen A. Smith believes he’ll pull off the upset by beating Canelo Alvarez next month.
How Terence Crawford will beat Canelo Alvarez
Terence Crawford‘s size disadvantage will be a major obstacle in the biggest fight of his career.
Smith doesn’t think he’ll have the power to KO Canelo, but insists he has the skills to outpoint him.
“I love Canelo. Crawford will beat Canelo,” he said on Andre Ward’s podcast.
“Crawford will beat Canelo by decision. I can’t see anybody knocking out Canelo Alvarez.
“But I do believe that if you can box and you can move, you can beat Canelo. You can outpoint him.
“One of the things I don’t like about Canelo, despite his greatness. It’s like almost every shot has to be a power shot, and that’s not beating Crawford.”
Amir Khan predicts fight between his former opponents
Amir Khan is the only man who has fought both Canelo and Crawford ahead of their eagerly anticipated clash.
The British boxing legend suffered a brutal sixth-round knockout loss to Canelo in May 2016.
Three years later, Khan was beaten in the same round of his fight with Crawford, who was loudly booed after a horror low blow led to his controversial win in April 2019.
The only boxer to face both Alvarez and Crawford recently shared his prediction for their super fight.
“I’m going to support my boy, Terence Crawford. He’s a good friend of mine. I think he can do it. He has a great boxing IQ, his IQ is perfect, and he can see everything,” Khan told The Ring.
“Crawford does hit hard. A lot of people don’t give Crawford the credit for the punch power he has.
“I’ve been in the ring with him, he’s hit me hard. Obviously, the most powerful fighter between the two is going to be Canelo, but I think Crawford still has enough power to hurt Canelo and push him back, and that he is there in front of him as a challenge.”