Las Vegas (AFP) – Undisputed super middleweight world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and American challenger Terence Crawford faced off for one last time before their blockbuster bout at a raucous ceremonial weigh-in on Friday. Both were 167.5 pounds (75.9kg), half a pound under the super middleweight limit, at the closed-door official weigh-in on Friday morning. They then both tipped the scales at the same weight before around 10,000 fans at T-Mobile Arena hours later.
It was a career-high weight for Crawford, a four-division champion who is jumping up from super welterweight in the hope of becoming the first man to win undisputed titles in three weight classes. Mexico’s Alvarez, 35, and Crawford, 37, squared off for a staredown of several seconds before they were separated by Dana White, the mastermind of UFC who has teamed with Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season to promote the fight that will be streamed globally by Netflix.
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The event capped months of intense promotion for the fight by both boxers and White, a personal friend of US President Donald Trump, who aims to hold a mixed martial arts event at the White House in 2026. “I’ve prepared for everything,” Alvarez assured the partisan crowd there to back him on the weekend before Mexican Independence Day. Alvarez is the only fighter to hold all four major belts in the super middleweight division. He has fought at 168 or above for almost seven years and has won six fights in a row since stepping up to light heavyweight in May 2022 and losing a unanimous decision to Russian Dmitry Bivol.
Although it’s been nearly four years since he scored a knockout, he’ll go into the ring a favorite over Crawford — who had never fought above 147 pounds until last year when he weighed 153.5 in a unanimous decision victory over Israil Madrimov. “I feel very good, I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Crawford said to boos from the stands. Crawford, 41-0 with 31 knockouts, has owned all four belts in the super lightweight and welterweight divisions.
“It’s going to be close,” Alberto Medina, who traveled with his family from Ensenada in Baja California, told AFP. “It will be decided by details because Crawford looks confident.” But Mexican American Mateo Diaz, a boxing enthusiast from Boise, Idaho, believes Crawford can make history. “I think Crawford will win because of his superior skills,” he said. “If in the early rounds it becomes clear he can withstand Canelo’s punches, he’ll make it to the end of the fight and win by decision.”
Knockout or decision, Crawford said Thursday his aim is a clear victory. “My focus is to go out there and do what I do best and that’s win the fight decisively — and that’s what I’m looking forward to doing come Saturday.”
© 2024 AFP
