Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Preview September 13th, 2025
Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez of Mexico returns to the ring this Saturday, September 13th to take on unbeaten Terence Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford will be attempting to conquer another weight division after beating Israil Madrimov in August of last year for the WBA and Interim WBO Junior Middleweight Belts. Saturday’s fight from Las Vegas, Nevada can be live on Netflix in most nations. Alvarez last boxed in May when he took the WBA Title from William Scull via a controversial unanimous decision in one of the worst title fights in boxing history.
Alvarez vs Crawford Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Terence Crawford +159
- Saul Alvarez -182
My Pick
The 35-year-old Alvarez has beaten William Scull, Caleb Plant, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders for his latest collection of Super Middleweight Titles since 2020 and also defended various belts against Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, Jermell Charlo, John Ryder, Gennady Golovkin and Avni Ylidirim during that span. And let’s not forget his lopsided unanimous decision loss to Dmitry Bivol in May, 2022 in an attempt at a light heavyweight crown. He’s also beaten the likes of Rocky Fielding, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev in the past half dozen years.
Alvarez owns a 63-2-2 record with 39 Ko’s with his only other defeat being a majority decision to Floyd Mayweather in September, 2013. His two draws were a highly-disputed 12-round affair with Golovkin in the first meeting of their trilogy in 2017 as well as a four-round battle against Jorge Juarez back in 2006. Alvarez stands juster under 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70.5 inch and has a wealth of experience under his belt as he turned pro in 2005 when he was just 15 years old has 520 rounds in the bank since then.
He’s taken on and beaten several other tough opponents and world champions over the years such as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Amir Khan, Miguel Cotto, James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez, Kermit Cintron, Carlos Baldomir, and Alfredo Angulo. He’s also held world titles in the junior middleweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions as well as minor belts as a welterweight.
Alvarez has good power as 61.9 per cent of his wins have been by stoppage but he’s gone the distance in his last seven fights and in nine of his past 17. He also possesses a granite chin and quick hands. Bivol, Plant, Golovkin, Mayweather, Lara and Khan to some degree, showed that Canelo can be outboxed in stages as he has difficulty handling a quick, stiff jab and fluid movement. Even so, Alvarez is an above-average boxer-puncher who likes to go to the body but has a bit of difficulty with opponents who are mobile.
Crawford is a southpaw who will turn 38 years old two weeks after the fight and enters the ring as a four division world champion with a perfect record of 41-0 with 31 Ko’s. The former lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight champion possesses excellent foot and hand speed and fine power with a current knockout ratio of 75.6 per cent and has stopped 11 of his past 12 opponents. He’s an accurate puncher who often changes fluidly from the orthodox to southpaw stance and owns a solid chin, but sometimes gets off to a slow start.
Basically, Crawford is the total package and is considered as one boxing brightest stars and pound-for-pound fighters. He’s just half-an-inch taller than Alvarez at 5-feet-8-inches but his 74-inch reach gives him a 3.5-inch edge over the champion in that department. Crawford has boxed 245 rounds as a pro since making his debut in 2008 following an excellent amateur career. He also owns wins over the likes of Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez, Jeff Horn, Thomas Dulorme, Raymundo Beltran, Dierry Jean, Hank Lundy, Breidis Prescott, Kell Brook, Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol, John Molina Jr., Felix Diaz and Julius Indongo.
Crawford beat Burns by unanimous decision in 2014 for the WBO Lightweight Title and defended it twice. He beat Dulorme by sixth-round stoppage for the vacant WBO Jr. Welterweight title in 2015 and defended it five times. Crawford defended the WBC Jr. Welterweight crown three times after winning it from Postol by unanimous decision in 2016. He became the undisputed champion of the division with 2017’s third-round knockout over Indongo as he added the WBA and IBF belts to his collection. Crawford then moved up in weight and captured the WBO Welterweight Crown in 2018 by halting Jeff Horn in the ninth round and defended it seven times with the last defence being a career highlight as he stopped Errol Spence Jr in the ninth round and took Spence’s WBC, WBA and IBF Belts in 2023.
Prediction…
Alvarez once fought the top names of his divisions but lately he has been selecting Grade B opponents such as Edgar Berlanga and John Ryder instead of Grade A foes such as David Benavidez. He’s also chosen to fight boxers from other weight classes or those who have been somewhat inactive. Basically, he has been accused of cherry picking and it’s hard to argue against it. Yes it’s true that Crawford is a multi weight champion and has been undisputed, but he’s never fought above 154 lbs as a pro. Alvarez seems to always choose the path of least resistance in most of his fights unless it’s for an astronomical payday but it could backfire on him this time around. Crawford brings skill, experience, speed and power to the ring but he is 38 years old now. A lot has been made of the boxers’ weight difference in this fight but they’re both going to have to make the 168 lb limit and there have been numerous occasions in boxing history of smaller men beating bigger opponents. The outcome of this fight depends on Crawford’s state of mind and his motivation. If he’s just in it for the money then there’s a good chance he loses. However if he’s truly going for glory then I believe he’ll outbox Alvarez. It’s true Crawford didn’t look his best in his last fight against the skilled Madrimov, but Alvarez looked like a rank amateur against William Scull. Based on that fight and other recent Alvarez performances, I’m going with Crawford.
Crawford has the boxing skills to handle Alvarez as long as he’s not just in it for the payday.
Play: Crawford +159 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Saul Alvarez betting • Terence Crawford betting