Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won’t be able to rely on a size advantage to defeat Terence Crawford, according to his former opponent Ryan Rhodes.
Alvarez on Saturday at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas defends his undisputed super-middleweight title against Crawford in a contest that represents a match-up between former champions at 135 and 175lbs.
Rhodes in 2011 became Alvarez’s first ever challenger in his reign as WBC junior middleweight champion, and yet even as a one-time middleweight world-title challenger struggled with the youthful Alvarez’s size and strength.
Crawford, 37, won his first title at lightweight and has only once fought as high as at junior middleweight, but Rhodes has been impressed with how he has enhanced his physique to fight at super middleweight, and believes that his boxing abilities can negate the natural physical advantage he expects the 35-year-old Alvarez to continue to possess.
“Crawford looks huge – he looks like a middleweight going up to super middleweight,” Rhodes told BoxingScene. “I don’t think, looking at them, there’s gonna be much difference. Crawford’s always been a big welterweight – I spoke to Kell about the fight when he boxed Crawford, and Kell’s generally the bigger welterweight. When Kell boxed Crawford he wasn’t the bigger welterweight. Crawford is a big guy; he’s taller. I’ve got a [mental] picture of Crawford and Canelo on the scales and there being no size difference. They’re going to be very, very similar in stature.
“[In 2011 Alvarez] was making light middleweight, probably coming down from close to 12.5, 13 stones. [My then-trainer] Dave Coldwell said that when we was on the scales, myself and Canelo, there was nothing in the size. Similar height; similar width. But when Canelo got in that ring he was a different animal. It was like he’d had a pump up his backside. I remember him walking to the ring and he had a big gown on and it looked like he had shoulder pads in the gown. When he took the gown off I looked at Dave and Dave looked at me, and I said to Dave in the ring, ‘They wasn’t shoulder pads’. They were clearly his shoulders in the ring; he all of a sudden went absolutely massive; whatever he done to make that weight, it was unbelievable.
“He’s heavy-handed. He’s very, very accurate with his shots – he doesn’t waste anything. He’s one of them fighters – when he throws he’s landing no matter what. No matter where you are; no matter what shot. He’s landing the backhands; the uppercuts; the three, four shot combinations. He doesn’t waste anything – he’s so accurate with his shots. Not the biggest puncher that I’d been in with, but definitely heavy-handed.
“He’s proved over the years that he’s very difficult to beat. A couple of times when he went up to light heavyweight he wasn’t the best and his size probably let him down, moving up. I know he ended up knocking [in 2019, Sergey] Kovalev out but he wasn’t convincingly beating Kovalev. Kovalev was in front for the majority of that fight. [In 2022, Dmitry] Bivol, the size massively affected him in that fight. He didn’t have anything that troubled Bivol or anything like that. Super middleweight is probably his weight – where he’s dominated for many, many years. His weakness is very little, but the times he’s moved up to light heavyweight, the size has been a big factor.
“The [earlier in 2025, William] Scull fight – Scull never engaged. Canelo tried to push the fight. It’s difficult fighting a negative fighter who don’t wanna engage; who don’t want to trade. Scull was very negative in that fight.
“[Crawford is a] great boxer; slick; can punch; great inside fighter; can mix it. He’s a similar kind of fighter to Canelo, but he’s fought in the smaller weight category. He’s very accurate with his shots; good counter-puncher. Very, very slick fighter. Not the biggest puncher, but has got a dig on him; he’s heavy-handed.”
Since being stopped by Alvarez in his home country of Mexico the retired Rhodes – in 2025 a trainer and manager helping to promote a bill in Rotherham, England on September 20 – has watched him evolve into one of the world’s finest fighters and perhaps the highest-profile fighter of them all.
“I don’t think it’s going to come into this, the weight,” he continued. “I think Crawford will even stand and trade with Canelo, but I don’t think he’ll be stood in front of Canelo constantly. I think he’ll come in at angles; he’ll try and outbox and outmanoeuvre and out-counter Canelo. If Crawford stands with Canelo he’ll get beat, but I think he’ll stand with Canelo but counter and outbox Canelo. I think he’ll win on a points decision – I really do.
“One thing I’m not sure of is whether he’s gonna outbox him quite convincingly or nick a controversial points decision. I just favour Crawford to win this fight on points. I’m so intrigued – the best welterweight in the world, and the best super middleweight in the world, colliding together. Legacies are coming together in this fight and I can’t wait for it.”
