Have we been downplaying Crawford's star power?

No, it’s all Canelo, every Canelo fight is a mega event and this fight is at a stadium which make it even bigger. It helps that his opponent is undefeated but it’s all Canelo’s doing.

 

No. He lacks personality, his charisma is non existent, his interviews are extremely bland, he rarely trash talks, he's not a handsome guy, he's relatively private outside of the ring, and the list goes on. He's literally a marketing nightmare.

 

The star power here is Canelo and Netflix. The fight being available on Netflix is what makes this huge event.
If he wins, or if the fight is super exciting, Crawford becomes a huge draw.

 

Crawford is playing his part but he in no way has ever been a boxer with star power
And that's ok

 

Nope.

Doesn't help that Crawford fights once a year. Don't get me wrong though, Crawford has proven to still be a very good fighter.

Mayweather had genuine marketability and starpower. I'm in the UK for reference, and if I asked my neighbour who is an lovely old lady who doesn't know anything about boxing, she would still at least know who Mayweather was, but she'd have no f*****g clue who Crawford, or even probably Canelo is.

 

I wouldn't say we are downplaying it. People were basing the opinion of his star power off the numbers that he and his dancing partner produced in those previous PPV showings. Crawford has had A list celebrities such as 50 Cent, Rick Ross, Chadwick Boseman (RIP), Dame Lillard, etc....on record of being a fan of what he does in the ring. While he was with Top Rank, he wasn't pushed as a priority like his label mates at the time (Loma, Tyson Fury, Teofimo).......Often times, I wouldn't even see a single promotion of his up and coming bout until a week or 2 before.

Since leaving Top Rank and becoming a free agent, he's made himself more visible to the public in pursuit of the fights he couldn't get while with Top Rank. He and Spence made their fight happen after failed negotiation attempts. Connecting with Turki, Crawford has been able to maximize his purse as well, especially with this Canelo fight.

But Crawford's always been respected by his peers as a force in the sport, but marketing wise, his previous promotion company dropped the ball on that drastically.

 

The event is the doing of both. The last standing elites of an era is pushing this fight to the record numbers it's doing. Not just the name of Canelo. Otherwise we'd of see something close to it in his previous few bouts.

Yes Canelo has a massive following, but stop it with Crawford isn't a huge reason why this location is even an option for this bout. We didn't see this massive push for names like Plant, Charlo, Ryder, Smith, Burlanga, Scull, etc.....vs Canelo. And there are a great deal of celebrities whom are tuning in and/or attending who are massive Crawford supporters due to their interactions with him and/or what they know of him as an American fighter.

By no means and I suggesting that Crawford is the household name around the world that Canelo is, but he is definitely at this point a household name in his homeland of the United States....not just Nebraska. Crawford is now a brand that is pushed on platforms rather than just a fighter who is signed to Top Rank.

I haven't checked, but I'm sure Crawford's Wiki page is as long as many other former greats in the history of the sport. Because he is just as accomplished. Canelo himself said that this is one of the biggest events he's been in. That comment wasn't made for none of the names I mentioned in this post, nor for the 3rd fight between him and GGG.

 

So, you want him to be a circus ****** and perform every time someone shows up with peanuts? Crawford is very charismatic, he's just not full of drama like guys such as Adrien Broner or Tank Davis. He's not flashy like Floyd..... Crawford is an everyday guy who is benefiting from his hard work. Literally coming from the bottom. I remember some of his early fights being out in the heat of an open field with much of his family and supporters car pooling to Ohio only to see him put some dude out in the first round. He didn't have the red carpet rolled out for him like many of the new generations "future stars" of the sport that claim people are avoiding them as a marketing scheme for their career.

Crawford grinded, beat up a world champion in their camp and got a chance with Top Rank because of it. Since Crawford has left TR, we have seen his actual character showcased with his interactions with other celebrities and the media. You say he's a marketing nightmare, but I see him as an actual icon that we would hope for in an athlete that the youth can look to and see how you're suppose to carry yourself as a professional.

 

One thing I'd like to point out is that this "star power" aspect is a non factor in deciding who fans suggest is more valuable in the sport. Crawford is fighting Canelo, but there are a lot of threads, especially recently that discuss different aspects of Crawford, his career, his training, etc.......outside of his match up this weekend.

There isn't a whole lot of conversations on Inuoe, who fights the very next day I believe against a pretty high caliber opponent himself. This is the 2nd time I've notice Crawford's existence overshadowing Inuoe during a fight week they both shared (Inoue stopped Stephen Fulton 3 days before Crawford obliterated Errol Spence Jr.), yet, if you try to compare the value to the sport of each fighter, many of those guys not paying attention to Inuoe will argue tooth and nail that Inuoe is better than Crawford in every category..

 

And please elaborate on how these appearances have sold his fights there after?

They haven't

 

Being on those doesn't give you star power. Hell, Shane Mosley was a bigger star, yet he wasn't able to sell a PPV w/o a much bigger draw as an opponent. There are just a few boxers today whom you could say have actual star power.