Crawford 'can make things easy' for Canelo – Shakur Stevenson

Shakur Stevenson believes Terrence Crawford will beat Canelo Alvarez and he “can make this fight very easy” when they meet in September.

WBC lightweight champion Stevenson said he has said for years that he thought Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) would beat Canelo. He said Canelo couldn't handle Crawford's punches because he felt he could punch at “any weight class.”

Crawford, who shot 154 against Israel Madrimov, didn't look strong in his debut and couldn't hurt him with his best shots. Madrimov looked more dangerous, and he wasn't even punching as hard as he normally would.

“Bard’s “easy job”?

“I've been saying this for years. I was probably the first person to say it, even before Terrence said it. I always thought his [Crawford] Styles vs. Canelo, I think he beats Canelo,” Shakur Stevenson said of Sports Boxing, believing Crawford will beat Canelo. “I'm not saying it's going to be an easy fight, but he can make it very easy.”

“I met Terence in Dubai and he was really fat. He'd put on weight recently. He was 38 years old,” Gareth A. Davies said of Crawford De said as he looked stronger. “He's thickened.”

“That's another story too. I don't think Canelo is taking the punches he's getting. Terrence can punch and that goes for any weight class,” Shakur said.

According to Shakur, Crawford will fight Canelo in September. This is unrealistic given the way Crawford traditionally fights against boxers. He tends to move around a lot, jab and jump into the ground to punch.

Terrance doesn't stay in one place or launch an all-out blitz. He had a great fight with Errol Spence, but that was because he was fighting a man who was reduced to a shell of a man after a car accident.

To adjust or not to adjust?

“This will take a little more than a year [13 months]. If you're going to compete over 160 pounds, you have to be very careful because it's a new weight range,” Chris Mannix said of Terrence Crawford on his YouTube channel Dede (Terence Crawford) needs to be careful when making adjustments to stay consistent.

It's doubtful Crawford will take the risk of adjusting against a super middleweight to get his feet wet before facing Canelo in September. If Terrence does fight at heavyweight, his opponent will likely be a middleweight at 163 or 164.

I could see Crawford fighting one of these middleweights around 164kg: Aaron McKenna, Liam Smith, Austin Williams or Kyron Davis. These guys are no threat to beat Crawford and they are ranked lower in the middleweight division.

“Only one fight at 154. I believe he can put on weight. He's a long guy. I believe he can fill out his frame well,” Mannix said of Crawford. “You have to be careful who you choose. You can't choose a hole puncher. You can't choose anyone who's really dangerous. You can't risk your bread. [for Canelo fight].

“Remember being an Oscar [De La Hoya] Fighting Steve Forbes before fighting Mayweather? Mannix said.

It would be a shock if Crawford got into any of the tune-up fights because he doesn't want to risk money for the Canelo fight and he's happy to fight once a year.

Crawford hasn't been active in five years, and he certainly won't be doing that now that he's about to earn his career-high retirement salary against Alvarez.