Sebastian Fundora Sides With Canelo Alvarez, Citing Crawford’s Absence From The Super Middleweight Division

Sebastian Fundora is picking Canelo Alvarez over Terence Crawford in their upcoming superfight in 10 days on September 13 in Las Vegas.

(Credit: Lina Baker/Premier Boxing Champions)

Fundora Backs Canelo’s Experience

Sebastian states that undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has been fighting at 168 and has the experience. He says he doesn’t view Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) as a true 154-lb fighter after fighting just once in the division. That was a year ago, and now Terence is moving up two weight classes to 168.

Fundora believes Crawford should have fought at super middleweight to get ready, but he chose not to.

It’s a mystery why Crawford chose not to take at least one fight at 168 in the last 13 months that he’s been off. He could have easily fought someone in the super middleweight division to better prepare himself.

Is Crawford Just Chasing a Payday?

Some fans on social media believe that these are the reasons Crawford chose not to take a fight in the weight class:

Fear of being exposed: Crawford has looked unimpressive in his move up to 154 in his last fight against Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024. He came close to losing that. The performance by Bud was criticized by fans and the media. Could Crawford have been afraid that if he lost or looked bad, Turki Alalshikh would change his mind about putting him in with Canelo?
Inertia: Some fans believe Crawford has been unwilling to fight more than once a year because he dislikes the hard work and pain involved in training. So, choosing not to take a tune-up at 168 would feed into the belief that these fans have about him. The training camp to fight a super middleweight would have been hard. Crawford has been fighting once a year since 2021. That’s a red flag for a fighter who doesn’t like hard work and is doing the minimum to keep busy.
Focusing on the money: Critics believe Terence is just seeing the Canelo fight as a golden parachute retirement payday. So, he wasn’t going to work hard to prepare by fighting someone in a tune-up at super middleweight, especially after the way he looked in his one fight at 154. If this is Crawford’s rationale for not fighting at 168 first, Turki Alalshikh made it easy by not insisting that he earn the Canelo fight by defeating one or two top fighters. That would have been the ideal thing for Turki to have set in place as a safeguard to prevent Crawford from just coming for the retirement payday. Making Crawford earn the Canelo fight by fighting David Benavidez and Christian Mbilli would have quieted the critics, who feel he doesn’t deserve the fight.

“Canelo,” said Sebastian Fundora to the media today when asked who he’s picking for the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight on September 13. “He’s [Alvarez] comfortable at 168. He’s been fighting there. He went and collected all the belts in that weight class.”

Canelo’s 168-Pound Advantage

“Of course, Crawford has a chance. He has a big chance, being one of the pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It’s just the advantage of being there first. You know what to expect in that weight class,” said Fundora.

Canelo has been fighting in the super middleweight division since December 15, 2018. As Fundora points out, he put in the hard work to collect the four 168-lb titles one by one. He didn’t sit out of the ring for a year, waiting until the title opportunity was given to him on a silver platter. He worked hard for them. That’s one of the criticisms of Crawford. He captured three of his four belts by beating Errol Spence to become the undisputed welterweight champion.

Now, Terence is fighting for all four titles at 168 without ever having set foot in the division. It turns the merit style of boxing upside down when a fighter is given opportunities without working for them.

Crawford’s Lone Fight at 154

“Crawford is coming off a 154 fight [Israil Madrimov] that he fought last year. So, I really don’t consider him a 154. He’s been fighting at 147 for a while. He had that one fight at 154, and then he stopped fighting for a year again. So, of course, he’s probably been training,” said Fundora.

Sebastian brings up a good point. Crawford can’t be considered a true 154-lb fighter if his clash against Israil Madrimov in 2024 was his lone fight in the junior middleweight division. He’s still a 147-pounder, and an older one at that. Crawford turns 38 on September 28.

To be a true 154-lb fighter, you’ve got to fight more than once and face different opposition. Fans note that Crawford didn’t look good in his fight with Madrimov, just scrapping by with a 12-round unanimous decision. The fight could have easily gone the other way.

The Toll of a New Weight Class

“Again, a high-class fighter, but to be comfortable at 168, you’re going to have to do some fights in there. Going in there and fighting the undisputed champion, it’s going to take a toll,” said Fundora.