Can Canelo stop Crawford?

I know the boxing world is split on whether they want this to happen. Some want to see it and think Crawford can at least be competitive, some think he could beat Canelo.

But my question is, can Canelo actually hurt or stop Crawford? Canelo hasn't recently had a stoppage, and Bud has never technically been knocked down in his entire career. One thing that impressed me about Crawford against Madrimov was his footwork, and his ability to get out of danger when needed and reset.

Lets think about those early rounds in Crawford vs Madrimov, how cautious both fighers were, how tactical they both were, how many times they would reset. The fans were even getting ansy at not seeing enough action. Now the action picked up in the mid to late rounds and it turned into a great fight, but the way Crawford approached Madrimov in those early rounds, often resetting, staying on the outside, being patient, one would think that could be the blueprint for what he would have to do against Canelo. Be cautious early, use his footwork, etc but then the question is what would happen in the mid to late rounds. If Canelo landed some of the shots that Madrimov landed on Crawford, how does Bud react to Canelo's punches? Can he be more elusive than he was against Madrimov or does he get caught, dropped and hurt?

And the other question is, if Crawford doesn't get caught or hurt, how likely is it that he could win a decision against Canelo? I mean theoretically Crawford could outbox Canelo, Canelo has been known to give away rounds and fight in spurts, somewhat similar to Madrimov. And Canelo has had stamina issues late in fights, whereas Crawford seemed to have a better gas tank. Madrimov though gave Crawford a lot of head and upper body movement. Canelo has shown great upper body and head movement in the past, but he didn't show those skills against Munguia, and maybe Crawford would find it even easier to land on Canelo than he did against Madrimov, which could mean he could win more rounds easier.

And if you're Canelo and you beat Berlanga in September, and you get an offer from Turki to fight Crawford in February at the Vegas NFL stadium, how could you not take that offer?

Would you blame Canelo for taking that fight? And what actual chance to give Crawford? What chance does Canelo have of stopping Crawford, and if it does go the distance, could Crawford outbox Canelo?

You know I get the weight argument, and we've seen fighters move up in weight to fight Canelo and got destroyed. But Crawford is better than those fighters, isn't he? Of course Canelo would be the favorite, but if it happened, could it turn into a great fight or would it be a mismatch?

 

Of course not. I'm asking if you think Canelo can stop Crawford, or what kind of chance you would give Crawford.

 

That's not true. Plenty of people want it, and if it happened it would be absolutely massive. You're not exactly answering the question but I'll address your points anyway.

Canelo is certainly not "begging" for this fight. It's unclear if he even wants it. It's Bud who has been the one chasing Canelo. So you're already trying to misrepresent. I'm asking that if you're Canelo, and you are offered this fight, how do you not take it?

As far as fighting Khan, he fought him at 155, Khan was fighting at 147, so it wasn't 2 full weight decisions. And it was Khan who challenged Canelo. Charlo went up the full 2 weight classes, but again Charlo was the one who had been calling out Canelo, said he could beat him. You're acting like Canelo has some desire to fight smaller guys. That's not the case at all. In fact it's quite the opposite. Canelo has moved up into higher and higher weights to challenge himself. Remember he fought much of his career at 154 before moving up 2-3 weight classes himself.

I'm not trying to sell anyone on this fight. I'm simply asking if it happened, what kind of chance do you give Crawford and could Canelo stop Crawford? Would you expect Crawford to be stopped?

 

Would you expect Crawford to be stopped?

 

I've been thinking a lot about this, especially in the wake of how Crawford fought Madrimov. Think about those early rounds against Madrimov, how cautious Crawford was, how many times Crawford reset and how quick Crawford's feet were when Madrimov lunged in. And think about how well Crawford took the shots that Madrimov landed, showing he has a great chin.

Crawford has really good footwork, he's very fast on his feet, and I think he could at least to some extent, use those feet to keep away from Canelo, keep him at range with the jab, fire in those one-twos that tagged Madrimov, and possibly win rounds and maybe even frustrate Canelo.

Canelo's been known to gas, Crawford didn't look fatigued at all, he looked the fresher fighter in the 11th and 12th round against Madrimov. Why couldn't Crawford do to Canelo what you thought Saunders could do to Canelo, just outbox him, use his quick feet, jab and stay away, win rounds and win a decision?

Why couldn't Bud do to Canelo what Amir Khan was doing to Canelo for 5 rounds until he got caught, who most people thought was outboxing Canelo? Canelo also hasn't been able to get a KO in a while, Bud Crawford isn't exactly an easy guy to KO, he's never been down in his career, he's got a great jab, fast feet, highly skilled. I just don't think it's the walk in the park or surefire Canelo KO as many people think it is.

 

On this forum we talk about a lot of fantasy bouts, i.e. a current version of a fighter vs past versions of another fighter. To those of you who give Bud no chance and are sure he would get knocked out, lets try this with Bud vs Canelo.

For example, who would win in a fight between 154-lb Crawford from Saturday against Madrimov vs 154-lb Canelo from 2012-2016?

I think the drained 152-lb Canelo who fought Mayweather would get beat by this version of Crawford, similar to what then-P4P #1 Mayweather did to him. And on that point, how do you think would this version of Bud have done aggainst 154-lb Mayweather who beat Cotto / Canelo at 152? Who's the better fighter at this stage of their career, 36 year old 154-lb Maywearther or 36 year old 154-lb Bud?

What about the Canelo who fought Trout or Lara, how would that version of Canelo have done against this version of Bud? Surely if so many fans thought Trout or Lara should have got the decision against Canelo, they'd think this version of Bud would do even better than Trout or Lara did, no?

How about this Saturday's 154-lb Crawford vs the 160-lb version of Canelo who fought GGG in 2017 and 2018 and Jacobs in 2019?

Would you have this 154-lb Crawford beating 154-lb Canelo, but not beating 160-lb Canelo who drew / beat GGG?

Many fans have said that the best version of Canelo was at 160-lb, and say he's past his best since he moved up to 168-lb. If that's the case then perhaps Crawford would have a better chance against this supposed past-prime version of Canelo than earlier versions of Canelo.

Bud may be about to turn 37 years old, but do more fans consider him closer to his prime now than Canelo is now at 34?

 

Would it be competitive and entertaining? Would Crawford be more competitive than Berlanga?