A former opponent of Canelo Alvarez has warned Terence Crawford about what it’s like to fight the Mexican star.
On Saturday night, one of the biggest boxing matches in recent years takes place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Moving through weight classes and fighting bigger opponents hasn’t slowed Crawford down in his undefeated career.
However, some believe that going up to super middleweight to challenge for the undisputed titles will be one step too far for ‘Bud’ this time around.
While Alvarez hasn’t finished an opponent in four years, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t incredibly dangerous, as one of the fighters that he faced in this period found out.
John Ryder warns Terence Crawford about Canelo Alvarez’s ability to lure you into a false sense of security
In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, John Ryder gave his thoughts on this weekend’s huge dream matchup.
Canelo Alvarez faced Ryder in May of 2023 after closing out his trilogy with Gennady Golovkin the previous September.
While Alvarez had been beaten by Dmitry Bivol one year prior, he was totally dominant over 12 rounds against the Brit to win a unanimous decision.
Ryder was praised for his toughness in the fight after overcoming being dropped in the fifth round, but this wasn’t the shot that caused the most damage.
When previewing the bout, the 37-year-old spoke about how the Mexican star can change things with just one punch when you least expect it.
“I think Canelo’s very smart. I’ve seen it myself, first hand, you see it with so many other opponents. The first round, he’s just gonna have a look. He’s gonna throw out a few jabs and I was thinking, ‘Oh, I slipped that. I slipped that, and I got my own jab off, it’s not as hard as I thought it would be.’ But I think he lures you into a full sense of security.”
Ryder spoke about Alvarez’s ability to gain all of the data he needs so that when, in their fight, his opponent made a mistake, he was able to capitalize on it quickly.
“I went to catch his hook, bring the uppercut through, and he broke my nose and changed it in the second round.”
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A UFC legend believes that Terence Crawford might surprise people by going toe-to-toe with Canelo Alvarez
In a recent interview with The Schmo, former UFC fighter turned analyst and commentator Dan Hardy, gave his thoughts on what he believes is the most overlooked aspect of this matchup.
‘The Outlaw’ thinks that Terence Crawford might surprise people with how well his power will translate to super middleweight, even suggesting that there was a clue from ‘Bud’ about this during one of the previews.
“I watched the Countdown shows as well. There’s a moment where they ask Crawford about his punching power and he has this grin on his face that says to me, ‘Man, I punch really, really heavy at this weight class and I didn’t even think I would.’
“I think he’s surprising himself with how heavy-handed he’s being. So, I actually think we’re going to see a different version of Crawford… I think we will see Canelo hurt in this fight.”
While both men have proven themselves to be dangerous fight finishers, neither has been knocked down in their careers.