A NEW LEGEND
for a man his height, and it’s 3½ inches longer than Canelo’s. And to hear Bruce Trampler, the Top Rank matchmaker who worked with Crawford for much of his career, tell it, Crawford is as much as, if not more of a natural middleweight than Canelo. “He’s not really moving up to 168; he’s coming down,” Trampler said. “I saw him [recently] in Norfolk and he weighed about 175 and he’s carrying it well.” On the flip side, it is somewhat mind- boggling to realize that Crawford, at 37, is three years older than Canelo, who seems to have been around forever. Which he has, having turned pro at 15! “I think they’re both on the decline,” said Trampler. “Which doesn’t mean it can’t still be a terrific fight. Think Ali and Frazier in Manila.” (Trampler, it should be noted, was the only insider I spoke to who picked Andy Ruiz to beat Anthony Joshua before their first bout at Madison Square Garden in 2019. He knows his stuff.) Trampler, for the record, agrees with Lampley that it’s not outside the realm of possibility for Crawford to win this fight, and no less an expert on these matters than Jones, who not only scaled the heavyweight peak against John Ruiz but also won titles as a middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight, is picking Crawford to win. “He has a high boxing IQ and he’s still hungry,” said Jones, implying Canelo may no longer be. “If he can take the shots, he can win this thing.” And as in all matches in which one fighter is moving up, that is the key question. “For me, the biggest challenge moving up was making sure I could take the punch,” Jones said. “I was good at giving it, but taking it – I wasn’t sure. I prepared for it by sparring bigger guys, so when I got hit, I wasn’t surprised. And they hit me just as hard as I thought they would.” Crawford, who started his career 17 years ago as a lightweight, has yet to face a true super middleweight. In his last bout, he took a step up, from welterweight to junior middle, to face Israil Madrimov, a tough but
inexperienced (11 pro fights) Uzbek who not only lasted the distance but lost a very competitive decision. It was the first time in eight years that Crawford had failed to stop his opponent (all of whom were junior welterweights or welterweights), and he was noticeably less aggressive against a bigger man. “Crawford has been my favorite fighter for a long time,” said Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who was preparing Pacquiao for a comeback bout against Mario Barrios at press time. “But I didn’t like what I saw against Madrimov. Maybe it was an off night for him, but if he couldn’t move as well because of the added weight, he may have real problems against Canelo, who has a lot of power.” “Crawford has to fight a perfect fight, the way Leonard did against Hagler,” Lampley said. “I can’t see him knocking out Canelo, but I can see Canelo knocking out Crawford. But if Bud can get in and out the way as Leonard did and find ways to elude Canelo’s big shots while scoring with his own, that could be a formula for winning the fight.” So let’s say, for argument’s sake, that Crawford is able to avoid Canelo’s power for 12 rounds and lands enough clean shots of his own to pull out a Leonard- Hagler-like victory. Where does this land him among the ranks of the all-time greats who were at their best in and around the welterweight division? Robinson holds a special place among historians, a mystique enhanced by his welterweight reign not being on film. After him, you can rank the following in any order you like: Leonard, De La Hoya, Pacquiao, Armstrong, Napoles, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, Emile Griffith, Felix Trinidad,
Former titleholder Shawn Porter gave a gallant effort, but Crawford took him out in the 10th round.
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