In less than two months, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez will return to the ring to defend his unified super middleweight titles. His opponent will be Terence “Bud” Crawford, who aims to make history on September 13 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Beyond the anticipation for the fight, a recent statement by the American has sparked debate in the boxing world. In a feature with The Ring Magazine, Crawford claimed that Canelo is better than Manny Pacquiao, a statement that quickly generated reactions among experts and fans.

Crawford’s controversial decision

During the activity, Crawford had to decide whether certain boxers were better or worse than Canelo Álvarez. Without hesitation, he ranked Manny Pacquiao below Canelo, overlooking the Filipino’s legacy, even after Pacquiao’s recent announcement of a comeback to professional boxing at age 46.

On the other hand, Crawford considered Floyd Mayweather, Óscar de la Hoya, and Dmitry Bivol to be superior to Canelo. In contrast, he dismissed figures like Carl Froch, Chris Eubank Jr., Félix Trinidad, Artur Beterbiev, and Bernard Hopkins.

“I’m not going to play around with Canelo”

In their first face-to-face encounter, the tension between Canelo and Crawford was already evident. During an appearance on The G.O.A.T.S. Podcast, the American was blunt:

“I have the style, I have the skills, I have the heart… and I’m not going to play around with Canelo, because he’s not going to play around with me.”

Crawford acknowledged the Mexican’s career but also questioned the timing of when he faced several of his opponents:

“Canelo has a great résumé, he’s fought a lot of champions. I’m not going to take that away from him. But many of them were already in decline when he fought them. Did you see what happened with Lara? I thought Lara beat him.”