''The only thing different about this camp and any other camp is I don't gotta cut muscle'' This content is protected So he's been cutting muscle at 135, 140, 147 and 154 This is him weighing 169.8lbs. More than his career 154 opponent Madrimov weighed As you can see that's a very lean 169.8 He was fast, sharp, mobile when he wanted to be, and punching hard vs Madrimov This content is protected Clenelo in his own words comes in at 178-180 Crawford is going to come in at 175 at the least for this fight IMO and given how lean he is weighing 170 I don't think it will negatively impact him much at all Crawford's 3.5'' reach advantage will likely be a bigger factor than Clenelo's 3-5lb weight advantage Clenelo couldn't get a Juan Ryder out of there who was dropped multiple times and stopped by Mung Couldn't get a Mung out of there who was one punch KO'd by a featherfist who sports a truly hideous KO 19% He couldn't get a soft-chinned Berlangy out of there who was HL reel knocked out by a MW making their SMW debut He couldn't get an inactive Jermello out of there who hadn't fought in 16 months and was jumping up 2 weight classes He couldn't get a shot 40 y/o GGG out of there He couldn't get Scull out of there or really hurt him who was coming off a robbery win vs Shishkin who hurt him badly with a jab and had him in big trouble in round 12 He hasn't got anyone out of there in four years despite almost all of the aforementioned fights being cherrypicks It even took him 11 rounds to get the last guy (Plant) he stopped out of there even though Plant is soft-chinned and got dropped, badly hurt, and almost stopped early by a glorified club fighter 2 fights ago and lost to an unheralded Mexican MW in his last fight who also hurt him badly Clenelo might be 3 years younger than Crawford but he has a lot more miles on the clock, turned pro at 15 to Crawford's 20, has fought a much higher level of opposition, much more big punchers, been in much more tougher fights. The reason why he has been incapable of getting any of these cherrypicks out of there for the last 4 years is self-evident
To be honest, even against Spence, I thought his legs looked heavier and had less spring than a couple years prior. Which isn't surprising given his age. He's definitely adjusted and become physically stronger - I just don't know how well it will carry over to 168 against a walking brick like Canelo (who admittedly, has declined a fair amount). Weird fight and wouldn't be surprised if it goes one of several ways. Have trouble picturing this one. All that said, I favor Canelo.
Yeah, people don't seem to understand the actual wear and tear Canelo has accumulated over his career. While he may be three years younger than Bud, he's had TWENTY SIX more pro fights. So Canelo has been fighting with a Mexican style since he was 15, been fighting multiple times a year that entire time, and has been in some absolute wars. He's also been fighting above what probably should be his natural weight class for half a decade at this point. Meanwhile, Bud has been fighting once a year while weight bullying his entire career and also not fighting anywhere near the same caliber of opponent. Canelo is a shadow of himself even from his initial run through 168 like with BJS. Watch him against BJS and then watch him in his last 3-4 fights. Night and day difference. Legs are slower, head movement isn't the same, he gets hit more, and he doesn't have the stamina to finish fights strong and/or get guys out of there.
It's not about knocking Canelo out. If Crawford goes in without enough power to keep Canelo away, Canelo will just walk him down and destroy him.
This is a hard pick. If Crawford indeed doesn't put on weight, just doesn't cut and is in the 175-180 lbs range in the ring, Canelo might not have much advantages, only disadvantages. On the other hand, the fight Crawford has won on purely boxing was Madrimov and that was very competitive. In the fights before that his ability to hurt his opponent has been a big factor. I don't think the can hurt Canlo, so can he outbox him Bivol style? I like this match-up. Very hard to predict.
It is a terrible strategy and part of why I have money bet on Canelo. I think this is also though Crawford's team knowing their fighter and knowing he is not capable of a stick and move 12 round stink fest so this is the best they can do. Adding muscle doesn't mean he is automatically going to hit much harder. Otherwise, AJ would be the hardest puncher of all time. What is guaranteed is he is going to feel slower than he has ever felt in the ring before because he has zero rounds at this body weight. Against the most skilled fighter he has ever fought at a weight he has no business fighting at. It is just hard to even get excited for this fight for me.
We know what the blueprint to beat Clenelo is and how badly he struggled with certain styles even in his prime and I believe Crawford's reach and speed and style will be a bigger factor than Clenelo's weight advantage if he even has one on the night and even if he does it won't even be much at all If Crawford was facing a prime Clenelo who was actually much bigger than him and who was still able to KO top fighters as opposed to going on a 4 year drought of being unable to stop cherrypicks most of whom have been stopped or badly hurt of late by MWs, featherfists and far from elite level opponents it would be different but he's not fighting that version of Clenelo he's fighting the later version Yes those cherrypicks are bigger than Crawford but by the same token Crawford is way better and more skilled than them and he himself is not much smaller than Clenelo What Clenelo has in his favour is even this version of him is much better than anyone Crawford has fought, hits harder than anyone Crawford has fought, is bigger than anyone Crawford has fought, and he is very skilled himself. But by the same token, that also has a lot to do with how weak Crawford's opposition has been for a 41 fight vet, P4P star, and 4 weight champion People are banking on Clenelo being able to turn back the clock and end his 4 year drought of not being able to get anyone out of there but this is the best fighter he's fought since Bivol and Clenelo looked like crap last time out and is ripe for the picking for an elite fighter with way less miles on the clock and, as said, despite the narrative we're supposed to buy into, it's not some David vs Goliath size mismatch because they're both about the same height, Crawford has a much longer reach, and there isn't much weight in it at all. Crawford has looked much more impressive of late even though he's the older man and I'd say Madrimov is better than everyone Clenelo has fought since Bivol and maybe Jermello. Obviously GGG was 40 y/o and well past his best for the trilogy fight vs Clenelo
Yep. Still a very good win for Crawford if he pulls it off, though. While Canelo is past his best and haven't looked really impressive for years, he is still likely the best at SMW, be it a weak division at the moment, and moving up two divisions to beat the best there is impressive. Much of Crawford's greatness seem to lie in that he can cut so much weight without being compromised, though. He could likely have competed at SMW for the last half decade or so without being particularly small for the weight.
For sure. Clenelo's still the best at the weight but he did shamelessly duck the '2nd best at the weight' Benavidez for a long time, the division, as you say is very weak and has been for years, and he has been cherrypicking like crazy for four years He's been rehydrating a lot of weight in every weight class he's fought in. The amount hasn't really dropped as he's ascended through the divisions and if it has it's by a pound or two and he's never been at a reach disadvantage either and he obviously won't be in this fight either. He has a much longer reach than Madrimov and Clenelo People are acting like Crawford's fighting Benavidez who is actually a lot bigger than him, is in his prime, and hasn't been on a four year no drought of not being able to get cherrypicks out of there. Benavidez would take his head off in 3-4 rounds max and size would be a massive factor
If Crawford beat Benavidez at LHW he would for sure get my respect. Canelo has been a disappointment since Bivol. Up until then he was the fighter giving us the best fights since Pac's heyday, but after that he went the easy route. Still a decade of good fights (even though he should have faced GGG at least a year earlier) isn't bad. Crawford wasted away his best five years fighting Khan and Brook and worse.
Yes, that would be very impressive or even the 168 Benavidez before he moved up to 175 The crazy thing is Benavidez who was a massive 168 and is a massive 175 who weighed 196 for his 2nd fight at LHW, way more than Bivol and still a lot more than Beterbiev actually has a longer reach than Crawford, by a whopping half an inch Clenelo is a great fighter but he should have considerably more Ls on his CV than he does and the Bivol defeat has turned him into a serial cherrypicker It's not really Crawford's fault his resume is weak he's just fought in divisions which were weak at the time or couldn't get the fights against the top guys due to boxing politics. He hasn't ducked anyone but he has very often been the much or bigger guy or at worst roughly the same size as his opponents and he's never been undersized at any weight class.
No, it probably was Haymon rather than Crawford himself, but there were quite a few wasted years at WW. I really rate Crawford, but Horn shouldn't hava had a belt in the first place and Porter and seemingly also Spence were at the end of their careers. The rest were non entities. But this was the time when AJ-Wilder didn't happen, Fury-AJ didn't happen and even Fury-Usyk and Bivol-Beterbiev probebly wouldn't have happened. At least Crawford didn't need Turki to finally meet Spence. Should have happened pre Covid, though.