Morning Report: Daniel Cormier believes Dana White promotion takes Canelo vs. Crawford to ‘a different level’

Daniel Cormier is as excited as everyone else that Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford are finally set to square off. And he’s even more excited that promotion for the bout will be guided by UFC CEO Dana White.

The Sept. 12 bout at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas serves as the headliner for White’s inaugural TKO Boxing event. Crawford (41-0), a four-division champion in boxing, is moving up to the 168-pound division to challenge Canelo (63-2-2).

Canelo is coming off of a disappointing performance against William Scull this past Saturday, which saw Canelo win a decision in a fight that saw little output from either boxer. The title fight was widely lambasted across the social media, but Canelo regained undisputed super middleweight champion status and kept himself on track to fight Crawford.

Cormier spoke about the timing of the matchup on YouTube, while touting his UFC boss White as being capable of keeping Canelo vs. Crawford at the front of everyone’s minds come September.

“They’re two of the best boxers in the world,” Cormier said. “They’re not over the hill at all, these are phenomenal fighters, they’re both still in their prime. Most UFC champions aren’t even under 30. I don’t know that we have one, under 30, male champion right now. So they’re in their athletic prime, 30-35. But a couple of years ago it might have had a little more steam because they didn’t have that performance that Canelo had last night.

“That being said, Dana White’s going to promote this thing. And because Dana White is going to promote this thing, I feel like it will bring a different level of interest into [boxing.] … So they’re still in their athletic prime, I wish I got to see it a couple of years ago when Canelo was a little smaller. I thought Canelo, he’s not as good as he was when he was fighting at 154, 160, because he’s a little bigger, carries more muscle, but I think it’s going to be a blockbuster event. It’s going to be one of the biggest pay-per-views we’ve ever seen, it’s going to be highly competitive, and I do believe that added element, that Dana’s going to be promoting, that Riyadh Season’s going to be promoting, it’s going to make more people tap in to what’s going on in this big fight.”

White is working closely with Saudi Arabian promoter Turki Alalshikh to put together the Sept. 12 event. Alalshikh emerged as a disrupter in the boxing space, shelling out millions to make some of the businesses’ most highly demanded fights happen, including a pair of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury bouts. That strategy backfired somewhat this past weekend with boxing events in Times Square in New York and in Riyadh, where stars Canelo, Ryan Garcia, and Devin Haney failed to deliver in prime spots.

Cormier is optimistic that Canelo vs. Crawford will be far more compelling, especially with White involved.

“It’s a massive fight,” Cormier said. “I hope that it can deliver and match or exceed the expectation. Growing up, they always put the two best guys together when it felt like they were suppoed to be together. It still feels like we haven’t missed the window for these two and I feel like this is going to be a big fight, a good fight, a fun fight, and a true competition between two of the best boxers of the entire world.

“September 12, Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, promoted by Dana White. Promoted by TKO. Promoted by Riyadh Season. Tap into Canelo Alvarez defending his Ring Magazine championship against the great Terence Crawford.”

UFC Des Moines. Cory Sandhagen won big in Saturday’s main event, but the story of the weekend might be Reinier de Ridder absolutely smoking Bo Nickal.

OK. Jon Jones insists his story is still being written.

Rude. Arman Tsarukyan’s relationship with the UFC is icy right now.

Trippy. Israel Adesanya encourages athletes to make use of therapy and psychadelics.

Big. OK, Canelo vs. Scull stunk, but Canelo vs. Crawford (and TKO Boxing) is on!

Tragic. Francis Ngannou released a statement about reports that he was involved in a motorcycle accident that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old girl.

Welcome. Ryan Bader is RIZIN’s newest heavyweight acquisition.

Happy trails. Brad Tavares is officially no longer on the UFC roster after a 15-year run with the promotion, and longtime strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez announced her retirement Saturday in Des Moines.

UFC Des Moines post-fight show.

UFC Des Moines post-fight press conference.

UFC 315 Countdown.

Uploading these fights is the least they could do. Watch at own risk.

Eagerly anticipated.

Denis breaks down the aftermath of UFC Des Moines.

On to the Next One. Alexander K. Lee and a gang of brilliant listeners figure out what matches to make for Cory Sandhagen, Reinier de Ridder, and the rest of UFC Des Moines’ winners.

This tweet made it onto the broadcast.

I hate that I laughed at this.

Them’s fighting words!

Never underestimate the heart of a TUF champion.

Seems bad.

No context needed.

And Poatan!

Canelo Alvarez (63-2-2) vs. Terence Crawford (41-0); Sept. 12

OK… that weekend was rough.

Hopefully we can all take a day to cleanse the palette, focus on the positives (damn, that RDR is good!), and prepare ourselves for two title fights at UFC 315 this Saturday.

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @AlexanderKlee or @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let us know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and like us on Facebook.