Canelo and Crawford have agreed to fight in September in Las Vegas

Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford have reportedly agreed to fight in September in Las Vegas. Last Saturday, unified super middleweight champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) met Turki Al-Shiekha in London.

“Sources close to the operation told me that an agreement has already been reached for Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford to face each other in September of this year in Las Vegas. #CaneloCrawford,” said JuliusJulianis on X.

It’s a smart move on Canelo’s part to fight Crawford in September because he’ll be fighting him after a long, long layoff. The Nebraska native, Bud, has not fought since his narrow victory over WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd.

Age and inactivity

Crawford is unlikely to accept a risky fight before the September contest against Canelo. Also, Crawford turns 38 on September 28. So Canelo is going to age him a little more by making him wait a little longer before he gets his golden parachute retirement payday fight against him.

It’s only four months from May to September, but it can be a lifetime when a person is approaching 40, like Crawford. We’ve all seen people age dramatically when they hit the big 38, and that’s not pretty. It may not matter to Crawford. He would be happy to get paid.

Julianis adds that both fighters will take interim fights, but Crawford may decide not to. He didn’t look good against Madrimov. Even against an average 154 pound competitor, he would likely struggle due to the size, youth and strength of anyone he was up against. Madrimov was beating Crawford in that fight.

Ideally, Crawford should take an interview for a fight at 168 to get his feet wet in that division before the Canelo fight. Again, that’s too risky. The 37-year-old Terence has been too inactive since 2020, fighting once a year and facing only one quality guy, Madrimov, who he almost lost to.

Canelo is likely to fight in a unification bout against IBF super middleweight champion William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) in May over the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend. This would allow Canelo to become a two-time undisputed champion at 168 years old. That’s a big deal.

Crawford will have to rally to have a chance against Canelo. In contrast to Madrimov, he looked weak, old and small.

For fans who remember what Crawford looked like at 147 against Errol Spence, David Shawn Porter and Kell Brook, he doesn’t look like that anymore. Terence has grown old and is not helping himself by enjoying the fruits of his labor by only fighting once a year.

This is the big fight boxing fans and Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) have been asking for. Now it seems to be here.