Promoter Dana White said today that if the Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight weren’t happening now on September 13th, fans ten years from now would wish that it had happened. They’d look back with regret.

Canelo-Crawford: Unwanted Superfight Hype?

Canelo-Crawford is NOT a fight that fans were asking for. It’s one that Turki Alalshikh was interested in, but not something that would interest the average fan. Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) was never popular due to his fighting style and his marginal opposition. He’s a switch-hitting boxer, and the guys he knocked were mostly B-level or old fighters washed up, like Shawn Porter and Errol Spence.

Fans Demand Benavidez, Not Crawford

The fight that fans have been asking for is David Benavidez against Canelo. That’s one that people have pushed for constantly over the last five years, and Alvarez has resisted giving fans the fight.

Instead, he’s fought a lot of fighters that they weren’t interested in, like Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, and now Crawford.

Fans wouldn’t care at all if Canelo never fought Crawford, because they’re two divisions apart. Crawford looked average in his last fight moving up too 154 against Israil Madrimov last August.

After that performance, there was a lot of doubt whether Crawford could beat the killers in the junior middleweight division, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Sebastian Fundora. Terence showed that he was weak at 154 and not young enough to beat the top fighters.

Canelo Victory: What It Means

“It’s going to be one of my best victories in my career. He’s a great fighter, and it’s going to be good for my books,” said Canelo Alvarez during today’s New York press conference, talking about what a victory over Terence Crawford will mean to him.

It sounds like Canelo is just saying words that he thinks Turki will want to hear to sell this abomination to the fans. It’s an awful fight that shouldn’t be happening. If Crawford wants to fight for a world title at super middleweight against Canelo, he should have to earn it the hard way by beating the top contenders like anyone else. I don’t think he could, but he should have been forced to try.

“None of this happens without Turki. He’s been able to make fights that nobody was ever able to make, including this one,” said Dana White about the Canelo-Crawford money fight. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime fight.

This is a fight that people would have been talking about 10 years from now, wishing it had happened. It wouldn’t have happened without him and obviously the Crown Prince. It’s amazing what these guys are doing.”