WITH just three weeks until the mammoth Canelo-Crawford fight week, former light-heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver has laid out his prediction for what is set to be the biggest event of the boxing calendar.
Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs), famously stopped Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023 to become the undisputed welterweight champion and the first fighter to become a multi-divisional undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Now, after moving up and becoming a super-welterweight world champion, ‘Bud’ is moving up an additional two weight-classes in a daring attempt to dethrone Canelo, 63-2-2 (39 KOs), and claim all four titles at 168lbs.
Should he be successful, Crawford would break another record as the first man to win a recognised world title at both lightweight and super-middleweight and further cement himself as a generational great.
Speaking with Boxing News, former unified light-heavyweight titlist Tarver, 31-6-1 (22 KOs), revealed that he expects Crawford to come out on top, before adding his belief that his undefeated countryman may be Canelo’s toughest ever opponent.
“It’s a major fight, man, the biggest in a long time. If you have been following Tarver’s Take, you know I’m ‘Bud’ counting all the way! But, this is going to be the toughest fight and the best fighter that ‘Bud’ has ever been in the ring with.
“Arguably, this could be the best fighter that Canelo has ever been in the ring with. We will find out which one is which on September 13!”
Against a smaller opponent, Canelo is poised to enter the ring as the favourite with the bookmakers, as the Mexican superstar seeks to not only prove his doubters wrong but to also register a first stoppage win since 2021 – and do so against a pound-for-pound rival.
