Canelo Alvarez has revealed what he thinks Terence Crawford needed to do in order to receive his full praise.
Crawford pulled off the big upset last September as he successfully stepped up two weight divisions and earned a unanimous decision victory over Canelo at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to dethrone the Mexican superstar of his undisputed super-middleweight crown.
Canelo was keen to run things straight back as he chased an immediate rematch against Crawford, but ‘Bud’ instead made the decision to hang up his gloves and retire, vacating the world title belts in the process.
It seems Canelo still holds some resentment towards that decision, as he told Ring Magazine that the only way Crawford would ‘get the credit he deserves’ would have been to face him for a second time.
“I always give [Crawford] credit, but we need to run it back.
“After the fight I said, ‘We need to run back this fight’, because I don’t feel I really won and I need to make this fight happen again. [If the rematch happens], it’s going to be different.
“For him to deserve all the credit, he needs to give me the rematch. But he decided to retire, and we need to accept that and move forward.”
Despite the comments, it is highly unlikely for a rematch between the two fighters to take place, with Crawford more than happy in retirement, while Canelo has now shifted his focus to an October showdown against WBC super-middleweight champion Christian Mbilli.
