Terence Crawford makes bold claim ahead of Canelo Alvarez fight
Terence Crawford has warned Canelo Alvarez that he plans to be the first man to knock him out when they meet in their blockbuster fight later this year.
The pound-for-pound greats will fight on 13 September in Las Vegas for Alvarez's undisputed super-middleweight world title.
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Some are billing the bout as the "fight of the century" with the undefeated, four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) stepping up from light-middleweight to take on the Mexican great.
There are questions about whether his power will travel up the divisions and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) has never yet been knocked out in a professional career spanning 20 years.
Jose Cotto rocked him with a first-round left hook early in his career back in 2010, while he has survived notorious power punchers such as Gennadiy Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev and Dmitry Bivol, although he did lose a decision to the latter. Yet Crawford is adamant he can end the 34-year-old's streak.
'Anybody can be knocked out,' Crawford said during a press conference to promote the fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 'Canelo's got a granite chin, he's tough, he's durable. But we've seen him hurt a couple of times and given the right circumstances, anybody can get knocked out.'
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There are some in the boxing world who believe Canelo has been given the rub of the green by judges when previously competing in Vegas but the unbeaten American isn't worried about that.
'I can't focus on the judges,' added Crawford. 'I just gotta focus on doing what I can do and controlling what I can control inside the ring. And that's going out there and winning the fight decisively.'
Canelo Alvarez will put his undisputed super-middleweight title on the line (Getty Images)
Crawford is considered by many, including The Independent, to be the No 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world but the 37-year-old believes this super-fight in Vegas will be the pinnacle of his career.
'I called Canelo out, he is the last great fighter amongst the era that surpassed us,' explained Crawford 'The Floyd [Mayweather], the [Manny] Pacquiao, the [Oscar] De La Hoya. We both came up in that era and he got the chance to fight them.
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"I wasn't able to get those mega fights, this is my mega fight. This is my moment.
'Over the last 20 years [in terms of biggest fights], I can definitely say it's up there.
'Me and Canelo are definitely making this event as massive as possible, given the body of work that he's put in the sport and the body of work that I've put in the sport.
"The accomplishments that he has, the accomplishments that I have in the sport. When you look at it, we did this together with the work that he did and the work that I did.
"Everything is up for grabs. Three-time undisputed, three different weight classes, going up two weight divisions. An undefeated fighter in the 168 division in Canelo Alvarez. Another all-time great, Hall of Famer in Canelo Alvarez. Everything is on the line in this fight.'
Alvarez and Crawford will fight for the gold in a hugely anticipated bout (REUTERS)
For his part, Canelo was equally confident of coming out on top – making a point of acknowledging his opponent's impressive record without being overawed by it.
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'He's a great fighter but he's not Canelo. I have the experience," Canelo said. "They only focus on my power but I have more than that. This fight is going to be one of my best fights on my record.
'He's not going to beat me, don't worry about it.' That drew a laugh and a smile from Crawford, who replied: 'For sure them belts are coming home with me.'
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