Is Canelo Finished? Crawford Poised To Exploit Alvarez’s Evident Decline In $100 Million Matchup

The Face of Boxing, Canelo Alvarez, will reportedly get a payday of more than $100 million for his fight against Terence Crawford on September 12th at the Las Vegas Stadium. Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) could earn a purse of up to $150 million to defend his undisputed super middleweight championship against Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).

Terence is expected to get close to $100M, which will be perfect for him to retire on. He’s been saying repeatedly that he’s taking the fight with Canelo for “legacy” purposes only, but fans believe that is code for, ‘I’m looking for retirement cash.’

Decline Evident

Turki Alalshikh is calling it “The fight of the century.” You can’t blame him for going a tad bit overboard with this enthusiasm for this match-up, because the former four-division world champion Crawford is one of his favorite fighters. It’s a good fight, but not what Turki calls it. Think of it as an old-timers type of match-up between fighters who were once at the top but are fading and nearing retirement.

The fans will enjoy seeing the two lions fight. However, you can’t call the winner the true best at 168 because they haven’t fought the talented fighters Christian Mbilli, Diego Pacheco, and Osleys Iglesias to prove it.

Although the aging Omaha, Nebraska fighter rarely fights nowadays and looked like he’d lost a half dozen steps in his last appearance in 2024, he still might have enough left in his toolbag to defeat Alvarez. The Mexican star looks far worse. In his fight last Saturday night against the IBF super middleweight champion, William Scull.

Punch Stats

– Canelo: 56 of 152 Punches thrown for a 36.8% connect rate
– Scull: 55 of 293 for 18.8%

Canelo looks lackluster in his 12-round unanimous decision win over William Scull (23-1, 9 KOs) in their undisputed super middleweight championship fight last Saturday night at The Venue in Riyadh. You could see the decline in the 34-year-old Canelo, as his ability to cut off the ring wasn’t there. Moreover, his punch output was abysmal.

Plodding Style

Alvarez looked horrible throughout, appearing old. The way he plodded around the ring was hard to watch. His reduced athleticism will make him vulnerable against Crawford, who normally wouldn’t stand a chance against a prime version of Canelo from 2016. At 34, the Mexican star is becoming less entertaining to watch with every fight.

Alvarez’s last fight against the 193-lb Edgar Berlanga appears to have taken a lot out of him. He won the fight easily, but he took big shots from the Brooklyn, New York native in the second half of the fight after tiring. Those punches may have taken the best part out of what Canelo had left, leaving the shell we saw last night against Scull.

“This is the biggest fight of my career, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited,” said Terence Crawford to Ring Magazine, reacting to his mega-money fight against superstar Canelo Alvarez on September 12th in Las Vegas. “Looking over the landscape of boxing and the opportunities and the accomplishments, Canelo had.

“Sizing him up and things like that. I know we’ve never been in a ring before, but it’s a great opportunity for me [read: $$$] and my career. It’s very exciting for me. It’s like throwing gasoline on a fire. I’m very competitive, and I’m looking to be competitive in a fight in September,” said Crawford.