Boxing’s biggest superfight in nearly a decade invades Las Vegas on Saturday as Netflix, Dana White and powerful Saudi Arabian adviser Turki Alalshikh team up to present a Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford clash for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
The fight will mark the first combat sports event to take place at Allegiant Stadium and will double as the inaugural boxing venture for UFC-owned TKO Group and its new Zuffa Boxing promotion, which is spearheaded by White, the UFC’s longtime CEO/president, and WWE president Nick Khan.
This matchup between two first-ballot Hall of Famers also presents the opportunity for boxing history as the 37-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) aims to become the first three-division undisputed champion in the four-belt era. That will be a tough task, of course, considering he will rise multiple weight divisions to challenge boxing’s biggest star in the 35-year-old Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs).
As we draw closer to this weekend’s bout, let’s take a closer look at the biggest storylines surrounding the fight.
1. How much does size really matter?
This appears to be the central tension regarding who will win the fight. Crawford, who captured a 154-pound title in his 2024 debut in the division, will now move up two more weight classes to take on Alvarez. From the standpoint of height and reach, the move isn’t so dramatic as the 5-foot-8 Crawford is not only the slightly taller of the two, he will hold a reach advantage of nearly 4 inches. It’s the questions surrounding punching power, punch resistance and whether Crawford can retain his speed and elusiveness with the added muscle that remains the weighty issue (pun intended) of the moment. Alvarez has been a full-fledged super middleweight for seven years and has previously won a world title as high as light heavyweight. The good news for Crawford is that he has put the weight on slowly over the past year and has given his body an opportunity to slowly adjust. It’s the exact opposite strategy that former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo used in 2023 when he made a similar leap in weight to challenge Alvarez but purposely chose not to add bulk to his frame and was physically dominated over 12 rounds. Can a great little man defeat a great big man if all things are equal on fight night? In most situations, no. But Crawford is anything but a typical or normal fighter. And the idea that “if anyone can do it, Crawford can” has played a big role in the betting lines being as close as they currently are.
2. Terence Crawford has a chance at doubling down on his legacy
As a four-division titleholder and a former undisputed champion at both 140 and 147 pounds, Crawford could choose to retire today and still be considered among the truly elite fighters of this century. A skilled and unbeaten craftsman with a legitimate mean streak inside the ring, Crawford has been a fixture in the top 10 pound-for-pound rankings for nearly a decade and is best known for his 2023 dismantling of fellow unbeaten Errol Spence Jr. in their long-awaited welterweight undisputed clash. But even though Crawford has a bunch of additional sexy names on his resume — which includes victories over the likes of Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol, Jeff Horn, Shawn Porter and Israil Madrimov — the native of Omaha, Nebraska, spent far too long of his prime on the wrong side of boxing’s business and political divide, which prevented him from getting the amount of career-defining fights that his talent demanded. But if the Spence win felt like icing on the cake of his HOF resume and finally allowed Crawford, then 35, to receive true global acclaim for the first time, the Alvarez fight offers “Bud” a chance to redefine his legacy. How many other star boxers, two weeks shy of their 38th birthday, would be willing to put their unbeaten record on the line by effectively rising three divisions to challenge someone the caliber and reputation of Alvarez? This isn’t just daring to be great, it’s Crawford’s attempt to truly max out what is possible for both his talent and legacy. Like Sugar Ray Leonard returning from retirement to challenge Marvin Hagler, Manny Pacquiao winning a world title in an 8th weight class or Roy Jones Jr. becoming heavyweight champion, Crawford is attempting to show what true greatness is all about.
3. How much fire is left in the belly of Canelo Alvarez?
On paper, it would seem as if Alvarez has all of the advantages against Crawford. He’s naturally bigger, younger, stronger and has one of the greatest chins in the history of the sport. Alvarez has also remained incredibly active as the sport’s biggest draw, having fought four times in the last two years during a stretch in which Crawford has appeared just once. But Alvarez is also a veteran of 67 pro fights (including twice as many rounds fought as Crawford) over a 20-year pro career that began at the age of 15. The Mexican icon has also been criticized in recent years for outright avoiding the challenge of two-time super middleweight titleholder David Benavidez, who was forced to move up to 175 pounds in order to seek his own level of greatness. Alvarez also hasn’t scored a knockout in four years and whispers of his physical decline have lingered after he seemingly allowed less capable recent opponents like Charlo, Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga to go the distance. It was Alvarez’s most recent win over unbeaten William Scull in May that brought the most criticism, however, as both fighters set CompuBox records for fewest punches over 12 rounds and Alvarez looked uninterested in chasing down his overly defensive opponent. Alvarez may hold most of the physical advantages against Crawford in this matchup but there’s more than enough reason to question whether “Bud” isn’t the fresher and hungrier of the two who enters with far less pressure overall.
4. Expect plenty of pomp and circumstance surrounding the presentation of the fight
After years of combat sports fans wondering just how effective or dynamic both White and UFC might be should they put their proven track record in mixed martial arts to the test by crossing over to the sweet science, Canelo-Crawford represents one heck of an opportunity to make a strong opening statement. Not only is Zuffa Boxing signed on to present 2-3 superfights per year like this one on Netflix (without the added upcharge of pay-per-view), the promotion is also expected to kick off its monthly series in early 2026 once its new broadcasting deal is announced any day now. White may be on record for years in saying he doesn’t love the idea of putting on fights inside of domes or stadiums, this is the type of event that demands such treatment given the star power and history at stake. Similar to how British heavyweight stars like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have turned fights inside of soccer stadiums into cultural events in the U.K., Canelo-Crawford has the opportunity to do the same for American boxing at a time when the sport is noticably struggling on home soil. The financial power of Alalshikh, the creative prowess and production capabilities of White and the dynamic reach of Netflix could combine for a perfect storm of sorts that has the potential to create a ripple effect of new fight fans.
5. Irish prospect Callum Walsh has the opportunity of a lifetime in the co-main event
As the 24-year-old often likes to remind the media, he isn’t a prospect as much as he’s already a bonafide, 154-pound contender after opening his career with 14 consecutive wins, including 11 by knockout. However you slice it, Walsh enters his toughest test to date in Saturday’s co-feature when he takes on 28-year-old Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs), one of the three fighting sons of the former world champion of the same name. Walsh is trained by Hall-of-Famer Freddie Roach, represented by former Gennadiy Golovkin promoter Tom Loeffler and advised by White, himself, who has long targeted the southpaw slugger as a future star in the making. A victory for Walsh on Saturday could propel him to become an early face of the Zuffa Boxing promotion as the young fighter has already proven to be a legitimate headliner in venues as diverse as New York’s Madison Square Garden and Dublin’s 3Arena.
