The grudge match between Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor finally has some competition in the eyes of commentator Jon Anik.
Anik has called some memorable moments in combat sports during his career, and last Saturday’s undisputed super middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford was right up there.
In the main event of the recent Netflix card at Allegiant Stadium, Crawford defeated the legendary Alvarez across 12 rounds to become the first male boxer in the four-belt era to win the undisputed championship in three weight divisions.
Alvarez vs Crawford was promoted by Dana White, who brought along fellow UFC name Anik for the occasion. And on commentary alongside Max Kellerman and Andre Ward, the renowned play-by-play caller experienced what he’s called his biggest live sporting event thus far.
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Jon Anik puts Netflix’s Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford above UFC’s Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor
When it comes to his UFC career, nothing has topped Anik’s experience cageside as Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in their 2018 grudge match.
But having witnessed two pound-for-pound greats collide in front of over 70,000 people, Anik now ranks Alvarez vs Crawford as the top combat sports event he has been a part of.
“Well, it did feel like the biggest live sporting event I had ever called, with Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov right below it,” Anik told UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.
“The only reason I say that is because, like Buff said, 70,000 strong — it’s hard to put a comp on that.”
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Jon Anik revealed the difference between preparing to call UFC and boxing
The September 13 event marked a change of pace for Anik, who was returning to boxing commentary having not worked ringside consistently for over two decades.
Speaking to The Schmo pre-fight, Anik revealed the difference between commentating on UFC and boxing, noting the extra preparation time required ahead of the latter events.
“It’s interesting. When you sit down to watch film, a lot of these fights (in boxing) take you an hour to ingest,” Anik said. “There aren’t a lot of finishes.
“So the film study is definitely prolonged. … I think the biggest challenge of the preparation was just that the 36-minute fights take an hour to ingest compared to a first-round (UFC) knockout.”