Andrade: Terence Crawford “No Match For Canelo”

Demetrius Andrade believes Canelo Alvarez is too big, strong and technical for Terence Crawford to step up to super middleweight and challenge him for his three titles the way he’s pushing.

Too big, too strong

Former two-division world champion Andrade feels he is too old for the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to move up two weight classes from 154 to have a chance to defeat the WBA, WBC and WBO 168. -lb champion Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs).

The Nebraska native, Crawford, is campaigning to move up to 168 to fight the inexperienced Canelo in the bantamweight division. He just wants to be given the world title without providing himself first by beating the main contenders waiting in line, such as David Morrell, David Benavidez, Christian Mbilli and Diego Pacheco.

There would be no problem if Terence was willing to win the title by beating the four fighters in front of him, but he doesn’t want to. He wants Canelo to correct him based on his credentials of what he did in the other weight classes.

If you look at Crawford’s resume, there isn’t much to the eye other than beating the injured Errol Spence car accident. The other semi-decent win on Crawford’s resume was against Israil Madrimov, but he almost lost to him and looked poor, eating his right hand all night.

Crawford moved up to 154 last summer on Aug. 3 and finished with a 12-round unanimous decision win over Madrimov. This was a fight that Terence could have easily lost if Madrimov had put his foot on the accelerator in the last three rounds of choosing to throw shots. Even in defeat, Madrimov made Crawford look old and made it clear he had hit the ceiling. He can’t go from 154 to 160 or 168 without losing.

Canelo’s advantages

“Yeah, I think so. I love Crawford. He’s a good friend and we get along. But when it comes to weight and power, that shit is real,” said Demetrius Andrade Fight Hub TV when asked if Canelo Alvarez is too big for Terence Crawford.

“Skills, too. Canelo’s not a pushover. Look what he did to the little girl, (Jermell) Charlo. Charlo was the big bad wolf and ran all night with a couple of hooks. Canelo threw a couple of hooks , and ran all night. Where is that (intensity and bravery)? Let’s fight.

“I think Crawford has the skills, but when it comes to landing shots and blocking them, power shots, and Canelo knows how to move as well. He’s got agility. He’s not like a robot. He’s going to be tough. My opinion is mine opinion. I don’t think Crawford can beat Canelo,” Andrade said.

Crawford is too small to fight Canelo at 168. The fight would be for money only, and it would be similar to when Canelo defended his super middleweight title against Jermell Charlo last year in September. Jermell moved up from 154 and was given an opportunity against Canelo without proving himself.

He ran all night after feeling Canelo’s power in the first round, and the fans felt ripped off afterward. It was a joke. If Jermell had tried to prove himself by fighting Benavidez or Morrell, he would have been knocked out in a one-sided loss or by knockout, and the fans wouldn’t have been ripped off to see him get to Canelo. In the real world, Crawford should win the title against Canelo like other contenders, but he’s looking for a shortcut to the giant payday. It’s pathetic and wrong for the sport.

“Do I think he can give him a good fight? I’ll be sitting there all day rooting for Crawford,” Andrade said of Crawford. “I will always bet on the black, always, but the reality is that Canelo knows how to fight. He knows how to go in big, and he knows how to throw hard shots.

“He’s a technical guy as well. Look what he did to Callum Smith – hit the elbows, hit the arms, hit all that kind of stuff. He’s going to use those same tactics on a smaller guy (Crawford). I’m just saying. Just I’m talking about the real facts of boxing. I’m not trying to be in this fantasy world because that’s not what I’m in,” Andrade said.