Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford: Legacies On The Line

In 1987, world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler fought Sugar Ray Leonard in a superfight that was expected to be an easy win for Hagler. Considered the longtime best fighter in boxing, the ferocious Hagler was making his 13^th defense against Leonard, a retired former welterweight and junior middleweight champ coming off retinal surgery who hadn’t fought in more than two years.

The odds were 4-1 for Hagler, but they might as well have been 25-1. Public opinion was that the Marvelous One would massacre the Sugar Man.

But when Leonard shocked the world and upset Hagler via a controversial 12-round decision, experts began to re-evaluate their all-time statuses. The seminal victory elevated Leonard, who is generally regarded as the greatest fighter in one of the greatest eras ever. And while Hagler’s record is irrefutable, losing to Leonard caused a shift in how some experts thought about his place in history. To many, it ensured that Marvelous Marvin would always play second fiddle to Leonard.

That is the kind of historical weight that the showdown between super middleweight king Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico and fellow four-division champion Terence Crawford of Omaha, Neb., will carry Saturday when they meet at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. So much so that this fight should’ve been called “Canelo vs. Crawford: Legacy.” Because that is exactly what is on the line.

Legacy.

The winner will be held in the highest of esteem and viewed as the dominant fighter of his era, while the reputation of the loser – probably unfairly – will be endlessly questioned and critiqued.

Clearly, because of his enormous size advantage, Canelo’s reputation is the one that stands to suffer the most damage if he were to lose.

Alvarez, 63-2-2 (39 knockouts), is considered one of the best Mexican fighters in boxing history and is the sport’s biggest draw several years running after winning titles at 154, 160, 168, and 175 pounds over a sensational 20-year career. He has parlayed that success into a financial bonanza, becoming one of the richest fighters in boxing history. And with that success comes power. Canelo, like Leonard, is the undisputed champ of dictating terms. What he says – goes. He picks the time, place, and opponent, and he takes the lion’s share of the purse. Canelo does what he wants, how he wants, and when he wants.

But that does come at a cost, of both legitimacy and fan support. Over the last three years, Canelo has been sharply criticized for fighting four subpar opponents – John Ryder, Jermell Charlo, Edgar Berlanga, and William Scull – while avoiding one of the most dangerous threats of his career, undefeated former super middleweight champ David Benavidez. Previously in his career, Alvarez had been criticized for employing similar delay tactics, holding off on a fight with Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin until he could hold off no more, while – in the interim – fighting opponents that were less qualified and less in demand.

Possibly to divert attention away from Benavidez – and from the fact that he hasn’t taken on a real challenge since losing to Dmitry Bivol in 2022 – Canelo has used his clout to sell the world on Crawford, a four-division world champ and one of the few remaining major names in the sport – but one who is considerably smaller in size who is being asked to move up two weight divisions for the opportunity to fight the cash cow Canelo.

Crawford is one of the most skilled opponents of Canelo’s career – a boxing rarity who has the ability to fight left or right-handed with equal efficiency. He is fast, smart, tough, and, as evidenced by his 41-0 (31 KO’s) record, one of the best fighters of his generation. But he is also a natural lightweight, winning his first world title at 135 pounds in 2014. He has since won world titles in the junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight divisions. But he is clearly pushing his body to its limits in challenging Canelo, known as a powerful, bruising 168-pounder who has destroyed natural super middleweights like Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant and who has even won a light heavyweight crown, knocking out Sergey Kovalev in 2019.

With exceptions like Leonard defeating Hagler and Michael Spinks upsetting Larry Holmes in 1985, many modern-day fighters jumping up multiple divisions end up paying the physical price. In 1992, welterweight champ Meldrick Taylor’s career was permanently altered when he was hammered in four rounds by the much bigger WBC junior middleweight champ Terry Norris. And in 2016, welterweight champ Kell Brook’s eye was irreparably damaged in his challenge of the much stouter middleweight king Golovkin, who registered a 5^th-round TKO.

Clearly, the slender Crawford will be at a distinct strength and power-punching disadvantage against Canelo. Historically, fighters in his position have not fared well in such attempts. Which is why a Crawford win would do serious harm to Canelo’s reputation.

Crawford was hand-picked for his name – another well-known notch in Canelo’s belt. Much in the same way that Bivol was selected as an opponent in 2022. Simply, Canelo is not expected to lose. So, if he does – it would be disastrous for Alvarez’s reputation.

People would zero in on Canelo’s career opponent selection, the timing of his fights with the likes of GGG, his avoiding big fights as with Benavidez, and his getting suspended in 2018 for use of the illegal drug Clenbuterol and wonder whether he was just an elevated, favored, pumped-up creation of promoters, commissions and sanctioning bodies that stood to profit financially from his success. His standing as one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time would also suffer, as critics would point to his loss to a naturally smaller fighter as evidence that he was always overrated, losing despite pursuing naturally smaller opponents and having the advantage of dictating terms.

In a nutshell, a loss to Crawford would confirm to the Canelo naysayers that his greatness was an illusion.

Meanwhile, an Alvarez win would reinforce what many already believe: that Canelo is the best fighter of his era.

Despite his bold attempt at catching the biggest fish in the pond, there are risks for Crawford’s legacy as well.

For years, the knock on “Bud” has been: who has he beaten? His lightweight reign included names like Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Ray Beltran; his junior welterweight reign had Thomas Dulorme, Dierry Jean, Hank Lundy, Viktor Postol, John Molina Jr., Felix Diaz, and Julius Indongo, and his welterweight victims included Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez, Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and David Avanesyan. All formidable names, but nothing sexy.

Leonard had Hagler. Hagler had Hearns. Hearns had Duran. Duran had Leonard. Crawford had….who? Even the recognizable names like Khan and Brook were considered over the hill.

Bud’s biggest wins were his 2021 knockout of Shawn Porter and his 2023 destruction of Errol Spence in one of the most notable fights of the decade. The Spence knockout was especially dominant and impressive – one of the best big-fight performances of all time. Yet critics remain. Spence didn’t appear to be the same fighter he was prior to a devastating car accident in 2019, which benefited Crawford. To some, this was supported by Crawford’s 2024 decision over Israil Madrimov, who gave Crawford fits before Bud won a decision and his fourth divisional world title.

If Crawford were to lose, he’d be considered a great fighter who wasn’t quite good enough on the biggest stage. As perhaps a fighter who performed tremendously against the very good fighters he fought – but not against the truly great fighter he fought. It might be the difference between being remembered as the best fighter of his generation – vs. mostly forgotten in five years.

For Crawford, a win vs. Canelo would be greater than all of his wins combined. It would do for his career what Leonard’s did for his against Hagler and what Spinks’s win did for his career against Holmes. He would go from great – to legendary.

Whatever happens Saturday, two legacies will stand to be either enhanced – or not.

Matthew Aguilar

Matthew Aguilar is a columnist and sportswriter. Over his nearly 30-year writing career, he has contributed to Associated Press, USA Today, The RING, Ringside Seat, Boxing Weekly, many newspapers within the Gannett newspaper company and his hometown El Paso Times, where he covered everything from college football and basketball to rodeo. Now based in Chicago, he is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Transnational Boxing Rankings and is a voter for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the El Paso Boxing Hall of Fame in 2013.

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