Boxing
In the wild weekend with Canelo Alvarez and Terenka Crawford
Published
1 year agoon
The rain feels Like stinging a needle on umbrellas and faces on Sunday morning in Recent York. And yet Canelo Alvarez is wearing sunglasses.
It is at the second stage of the route with three night to promote his mega fights against Terenka Crawford on September 13. Most of the gathered media at the center of Javits shake or saying goodbye to the umbrellas of rain over Recent York on the day over 80 degrees in June always seems to have some extra mustard on them.
But Alvarez is arid and shiny. Earlier this morning he bought a novel shiny, special edition of Jacob & Co., watch slightly below $ 500,000, paid on the No-Max credit card. Maybe that’s why he needs sunglasses.
“Almost half a million,” he explains. But he has a gigantic, wide smile when he says. He is proud of his purchase.
He experiences about 30 minutes of enduring series of interviewers introducing themselves and then turning to the camera on the face. So sunglasses begin to feel preventive health care of the eyes, not a fashionable statement, boredom or disguise of a hangover. The literal look, which is all day, is the nightmare of optometry.
Canelo does not smile often or is not animated during interviews. The only time he shows emotions is when he talks about Golf (man, Canelo Alvarez Golf). For the rest of the time he is a businessman who gives a fight, which, regardless of whether you already pass it or not, will be an critical moment in the life of sports fans, which will appear on September 13 in Netflix. This is Zuff’s first boxing event, promoted by Dan White, as part of the TKO brand. And it probably contains the two best, most critical era fighters to Mayweather. For die -hard fans who have gray hair or without hair at all because of how often the best boxers have spinning and never fought in the last 25 years, it is prophecy.
“It is so huge in the case of boxing,” says Canelo. “I am glad that I am involved in this kind of fighting that so many people see. Everyone has Netflix.”
Half an hour later, in a room 20 feet away, Crawford is even more subdued, making the same interview glove. And they both still have to make a press conference later this afternoon. It is hard to blame fighters for not breaking jokes and dancing for cameras. The whole group was in Saudi Arabia 48 hours earlier, and then flew to Recent York for this event at Fanatics Fest, and then everyone is to Las Vegas for the last stop on Friday.
It’s all business for them and based on one last photo, that’s how fans want.
– Turki Alalshikh (@Turki_ALSHIKH) June 19, 2025
Photo Makes people very gross.
Turki Alalshikh, the man most responsible for making this fight, published a photo on X last Friday, which showed him at the head of the table with Crawford and Alvarez sitting opposite himself. Alalshikh, chairman of General Entertainment Authority and the president of boxing Saudi Arabia, called them to dinner of the Middle East to celebrate the start of the route after noise.
When this photo circled on Friday evening until Saturday, fans of the fight did not like it. They complained that Crawford and Canelo looked too chum, eating a table from each other.
Fans of sports fighters can be so stupid when it comes to how fighters should promote, compete, and then go further. In previous fighting, boxers should despise each other. Looks are mandatory and the appearance should kill. On the night of fighting, veterans should barely be able to refrain from starting violence. The fight should then be a constant show of fireworks, and blood is always welcome. After the fight, fighters should meet and embrace the hand, they can even hug once or twice. They should be sure to respect the whole team of the opposite warrior.
Dinner before a great fight? Scandalous.
But this is quite an unfair reaction. NFL players try to overthrow their ancient buddies to study for three hours on Sundays, and then replace the t -shirts. The bitter Playoff NHL series always ends with a hand embrace line and congratulations. Both elite fighters, Canelo and Crawford, probably deserve to be in favor of doubt that they will be able to sit on the table, and then try to overcome the living lights daytime two months later.
However, both fighters also said that the dinner together was a bit awkward. They once ate dinner for many years – and weight classes – ago. Crawford was once the undisputed 135-pound champion, and now he moves up to two more classes from 154 to 168 to face Alvarez. So during their first dinner they seemed to be two stars that would always go through at night.
However, here we are. On Sunday, both warriors claim that they have never eaten dinner with an opponent before and they will not do it again in the near future. Crawford had already ate before he reached dinner, so he spent an hour to enjoy food to be kind. Canelo did not eat much and admitted that he soon thought about hitting Crawford in the face. “I really don’t like it,” he tells me. “I don’t like to participate in my opponents. But let them tell you something: I saw him and I really want to punish him. I thought I was going to this guy.”
Alvarez has sunglasses when he says. But somehow it seemed that it could be said that he had bad intentions planned for September 13.
Press conference It opens an hour later with Michael Buffor on the stage. He is 80 years ancient now, but still looks quite royal and buffers. Fans drown out several times, but when he begins his beginning: “Are you ready?” Spiel leading to “Let’s get ready for rumbling”, it still seems that it hits 93 miles per hour on the radar gun.
The crowd is loud along the entire 30-minute press conference. Crawford has a clamorous minority in the audience. But this is a crowd of Canelo, like most is in boxing. Canelo is now 34 years ancient and had his debut pro boxing two years before the invention of the iPhone. Since around 2010, he has been retaining breath from the main boxers of events. In this way, he earned somewhere north of $ 500 million as a professional boxer and can afford a godfather’s watch. He earned money and masses.
Crawford comes out first. He mainly gets mockery, but some shouts break through the noise. He is an equally extraordinary athlete, after sending all 41 boxers he has ever met. And he is one of those fighters whose undefeated album still seems to underestimate its splendor. On a few occasions, when he has ever been hit, there is a tendency to immediately think that he had to slip or disperse something. It rarely seems harmful.
Canelo goes out a minute later, and sunglasses are still turned on when he sits down. The introduction of the buffer is completely swallowed by shouts. Intro is clearly 10-8 rounds for Canelo.
Crawford wins a press conference. He says little, but his words land, a bit similar to how he also chooses his places in the ring. At some point, Alvarez asks Alalshikha to reduce the ring to this fight so that Crawford cannot escape. Crawford starts immediately: “The only run I intend to do is to turn my head. And he also has a gigantic head.”
White and fighters deal with questions for about 15 minutes, and then the press conference ends in the announcement that the face will occur. White stands in the middle of the stage-he is an outstanding fighter in the history of combat sport. It looks like a T-shirt Canelo vs. Crawford. He deserves a black belt for his tough -earned ability to raise his hands in “the fish I caught was such a gigantic” position that keeps the fighters close enough to be in the same photo, but far enough to make sure that the fight will not take place for free a month before the actual fight.
The tables are cleaned as quickly as possible, and the fighters leave the opposite sides of the stage. This look occurs several times in the next six weeks, so there is a professional character for their repetitive theaters. Canelo and Crawford just sat calmly 20 feet from each other for 30 minutes. Now they should leave the stage, then march back and chest with anger in the eyes. Perhaps he will tranquil people who are very furious that they eat dinner together.
The fighters circled inside, and White is covered between them. But Crawford blows next to White and Canelo’s space. For the first time, Canelo shades are not on his face for the first time. Two fighters jaws for about five seconds, and then Canelo gives Crawford solid emphasis. Crawford returns towards him, and White tries to keep a distance between two warriors. White receives the legal appearance of “UH-OH” on the face during the fight, although most observers thought that the whole thing looks like a WWE fight designed for sale. It may be true, but in the room it seemed real.
Two fighters separate and then return to the second shot again. This lasts a good 20 seconds, and White finally relaxes his hands a little in the middle. It raises the Ring magazine belt, which according to the company cost USD 188,000, but Crawford and Canelo will never break away from each other.
Alvarez is still during the photo. His left hand is at his side, and his right hand is slightly higher and at all, if necessary, rolled up for full sending. His sunglasses are turned off, as well as future dinner plans.
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Boxing
Robert Garcia Evaluates Terence Crawfords Odds Against Prime Pacquiao
Published
20 hours agoon
August 15, 2026
Top trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia has considered the outcome of a fantasy showdown between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao.
The two generational greats reportedly came close to squaring off in 2021, back when Crawford was the WBO welterweight champion and ‘Pac Man’ held the WBA title.
Their unification match never materialised, though, as Pacquiao was scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr before ‘The Truth’ pulled out with a torn retina.
Instead, the Filipino legend ended up losing his WBA title to Yordenis Ugas at a stage when, while still serviceable, he was quite clearly past his best.
Crawford, meanwhile, was hitting top form around this time, just a few fights away from producing arguably a career-best performance against Spence.
He did, of course, manage to stop his welterweight rival in nine rounds, before moving up to 168lbs and becoming a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez last September.
Based on those two performances, coach Garcia has told ESNEWS that he would favour ‘Bud’ to defeat even a prime version of Pacquiao.
“The Crawford that beat Spence – and the Crawford that beat Canelo – would probably beat Manny.”
While Crawford’s prime almost certainly came during his run of eight stoppages at welterweight, it is harder to pinpoint when Pacquiao ultimately reached his peak.
In terms of his most destructive performance at world level, however, many will point towards his second-round finish over Ricky Hatton in 2009.
While facing the ‘Hitman’ at 140lbs, Pacquiao would cement himself as a formidable welterweight champion soon after, dethroning Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round stoppage for the WBO title.
Boxing
Zuffa Boxing Parts Ways with Former World Champion After First Loss
Published
20 hours agoon
August 15, 2026
Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.
The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.
Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.
Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.
With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.
In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.
Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.
“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”
This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.
As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.
Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.
Boxing
David Price Analyzes Conor Benns Chances Against Ryan Garcia for World Championship Glory
Published
2 days agoon
August 14, 2026
Former British champion and Olympic bronze medallist David Price has assessed whether his countryman, Conor Bennpossesses the necessary hand speed to defeat Ryan Garcia.
The two welterweights will square off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.
It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him dethrone Mario Barrios in February, scoring a first-round knockdown before winning a wide unanimous decision.
But despite coming off this dominant display, Garcia was far less impressive when he returned from a year-long doping ban and lost on points to Rolando Romero in May 2025.
Still, many would argue that the 28-year-old has shown signs of world-class quality, while Benn remains glaringly unproven at the top level.
The 29-year-old has also not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two outings resulting in unanimous decision victories over faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.
Against Eubank, in particular, Benn’s speed seemed a key factor in their two middleweight encounters last year, despite him suffering a points defeat the first time around.
As he approaches this welterweight contest against Garcia, though, former heavyweight contender Price has told The Smith Brothers that he sees Benn contending with an unfamiliar disadvantage.
“I think I [favour Garcia]. Conor Benn’s got great hand speed, but I think [Garcia’s] hand speed could make the difference in the fight.”
Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.
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