Mexican legend Alvarez promises Crawford bout will be his 'best'

RIYADH — Mexico's undisputed super middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez is promising fans that the title bout with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas on September 13 will be one of the legend's "best".

The 34-year-old became sole holder of all the title belts in the weight category for a second time when he beat IBF champion William Scull by unanimous points decision in Riyadh last month.

Crawford was at that bout and immediately threw down the gauntlet — gladly accepted by Alvarez — even though it means the 37-year-old American has to step up two weight divisions.

Alvarez, whose record is an impressive 63-2-2 with 39 knockouts, has been a world champion at four different weights, as indeed has Crawford.

"This fight is going to be one of my best fights in my history, in my record," Canelo said at a joint news conference with Crawford in Riyadh to get the promotional show on the road.

"I'm very excited and motivated, because this is all about wanting to make history."

Alvarez, whose two defeats have come at the hands of Floyd Mayweather at super middleweight in 2013, and, then, to Dmitry Bivol at light heavyweight in 2023, said he loved boxing, but, for him, winning was primordial.

"For me, it's very important to win this fight.

"I love boxing. I love winning.

"I'm a winner, so I'm very excited to be in the ring already."

'I won't be running'

Alvarez, who had his first professional fight aged 15, said both pugilists needed to be in the same frame of mind on the night if the contest was to live up to its billing.

"I come to fight, but you need to have both fighters think the same, right?

"Because, you know, this fight is big, and for me, making history is my goal, my whole life."

Alvarez did not go down the trash talking route, instead praising his opponent, whose record stands at 41 victories, with 31 by knockout.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a great fighter — but like I said, he's not Canelo," the Mexican said.

"He's one of the top fighters I'm going to face in my career, for sure."

Crawford, for his part, said fighting someone of Alvarez's stature was both a long-held dream and his "mega fight".

"He is the last great fighter from the era of Floyd (Mayweather),(Manny) Pacquiao and (Oscar) De La Hoya," said Crawford.

"We both came up in that era, and he was right there with those fighters and got the chance to fight the Miguel Cottos, the Floyd Mayweathers, and, you know, the Triple Gs (Gennady Golovkin).

"I wasn't able to get those mega fights, so this is my mega fight, this is my moment.

"That's the reason why I want to fight an all-time great like Canelo."

Crawford added that, despite his respect for Alvarez, he was in it to win the title and was confident he could prevail.

"However I've got to fight, I'm gonna win, simple as that," he said.

"I'm not going to let somebody else force me or tell me how to fight when I've been fighting my whole life, you know?

"I won't be running."

The duo will move on to further promote the bout in New York and Las Vegas in the coming week.

Agencies Via Xinhua