Hearn Explains His Shift To Backing Crawford Against A Declining Canelo

Promoter Eddie Hearn has switched directions and is leaning toward Terence Crawford defeating undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in their mega-fight on September 13th.

Hearn says that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is the “fresher” guy with the footwork, calmness, and self-belief to defeat Canelo. What made Hearn change his mind was how Alvarez looked in his last fight against William Scull.

A defeat for Canelo against Crawford would be devastating for his career, affirming in fans’ minds that he was always a limited fighter. Many people see Canelo as a flat-footed fighter with no ability to move and unable to deal with skilled boxers. He’s either lost or been given controversial wins when he has fought talented fighters. Erislandy Lara, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Austin Trout are examples of that.

Canelo’s Recent Decline

“Ring IQ, movement, controlling the fight with the lead hand, footwork, defense, calmness, and everything. It’s the self-belief. I can’t tell you how much belief Crawford has,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype. “He has no doubt in his mind that he beats Canelo, and he does it easily.”

Crawford obviously believes he beats Canelo because he’s seen how deteriorated he’s looked in his last three fights. The way Canelo, 34, performed in his last bout against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull on May 3rd, he would lose to many of the top 168-lb fighters. You can include top 154-lb guys in there as well, like Crawford. The Mexican star looks shot.

“He very well could beat all the greats, but he never really got the chance. That’s why this fight is important to him,” said Hearn about Crawford. “After watching Canelo against Skull, I think he’s [Crawford] the fresher guy in there. I very rarely back against Canelo Alvarez, but it would not surprise me if Crawford won the fight.”

It’s too bad Crawford never got a chance to fight all the top guys during his career to prove himself as one of the greats. It’s only now, late in his career at 37, that he’s finally getting a chance, and he might not get the credit that he wants due to Alvarez showing a serious decline in his physical skills.

Beyond Canelo: True Greatness

If Crawford really wants to prove himself as a great, he should move up to 175 and take on the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 3 trilogy winner or David Benavidez. That’s assuming Bud is victorious against Canelo on September 13th. For Crawford to defeat Benavidez or the Bivol-Beterbiev trilogy winner, it would be huge and show that he is worthy of being in the top three of the all-time greats.

“They were originally going to go on a Friday night because there’s a UFC event on Saturday night. But for me, I think championship boxing should be on a Saturday night,” said Hearn, reacting to the Canelo vs. Crawford fight being moved to Saturday, September 13th.

Canelo-Crawford will be going up against a UFC event on the same night, but there’s a good bet that it’ll still do well. It’s too big of a fight for it not to do bring in huge numbers.