On a blue canvas adorned with Netflix logos, Terence Crawford last night directed and starred in his latest masterpiece. It ran for a duration of 36 minutes – that is, 12 three-minute rounds – and was arguably the most artistic thing Netflix have to date “produced”. It contained so much of what the other stuff lacks, you see: craft, subtext, nuance.
Better yet, in the context of Crawford’s illustrious oeuvre, last night’s 12-round decision over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be remembered as his opus; the true underdog story.
He has, perhaps, had better fights, and better performances, but none will have resonated with the masses quite like last night’s. In fact, by agreeing to star in a David vs Goliath story, Crawford knew that just winning, as the smaller man, would probably be enough to win the hearts of the public and curry favour with the Netflix algorithm. That he then won the way he did, with such dominance and style, was merely Crawford flexing his greatness in the eyes of a world perhaps unaware of it until now.
“Because you liked…” goes the Netflix algorithm and seldom, when scrolling, will you ever find something as captivating as the thing on which your recommendations have been based. There will be things recommended that are similar to it in tone or style, but rarely will these things be as good as whatever you have just watched.
In the case of Crawford vs Alvarez, that too was the concern going in. If, having watched Crawford beat Errol Spence in 2023 to cement his legacy at welterweight, you wanted more of the same from Crawford, it was unlikely you would find it, in 2025, in the form of Crawford masquerading as a super middleweight. Even if the algorithm suggested it to you, most people in boxing accepted that Crawford would not be as effective at 168lbs as he was at 147lbs and many felt we would see the impact on his strength, power and mobility in the presence of a natural super middleweight like Alvarez. In other words, “Because you liked…” was not going to work with Crawford vs Alvarez. This was a different kind of fight. A different kind of challenge. At best, a money-spinning spin-off.
It is a testament to his greatness, then, that Crawford didn’t just win last night at Allegiant Stadium. Instead, before a crowd of 70,000 fans, the southpaw from Omaha, Nebraska managed to somehow trump his breakout fight in 2023. That’s not to say last night’s display was superior, but certainly the win, given everything involved, means more to Crawford’s legacy and his current standing in the sport. It was the Spence win writ large – on a grander scale, in front of more eyeballs, to the sounds of a mariachi band. In triumphing the way he did, Crawford reminded Las Vegas of his first masterpiece two years ago and also improved on it. There was, on this occasion, even less margin for error, so he had to get it right. He had to be almost perfect.
Whereas against Spence he could impose himself early and set the tone, there were no such luxuries in the company of Alvarez, the bigger man. Against Alvarez, Crawford knew his place, physically at least, and would have to surrender ground until he found his feet. This meant giving up the centre of the ring, the place from which he did so much damage against Spence, and having to be patient on the back foot. He had to wait for his openings and keep an eye out for any escape routes. He had to feel Alvarez’s power – ideally, on arms, shoulders, and gloves – while feeling his own way into the fight, little by little.
Of this we saw evidence in the first two rounds; rounds in which very little seemed to be happening. For the Netflix crowd, this, as a spectacle, may have appeared rather dull, or uneventful, and some may even have started to scroll for other options on a service boasting plenty. Yet, for the rest, these early rounds were imbued with subtext and subtle patterns and possessed enough character choices to keep us fully engaged with what we were watching.
There was, for example, a moment in round two when Crawford landed his first flurry of the fight and Canelo just smiled. There was then another moment, later in that same round, when Crawford came forward for the first time, either because he suddenly felt dominant or because Alvarez backed up of his own volition. Whatever it was, both these moments, although seemingly inconsequential, had revealed things about the fight’s main characters without any need for action.
In the third there was more action. In that round Crawford got busy with his jab and southpaw cross and Canelo, still stalking, sunk a left hook into the American’s ribs. Later on, Canelo then returned to the body, this time with his right hand, and Crawford shook his head. It was, for those still paying attention, another sign; a sign that this fight was as much about minds and body language as punches.
For Crawford, the smaller man, signs were essential. As talented as he is, Crawford needed to know that he was making an impression on his bigger and typically stoic opponent. He also needed to let Alvarez know that he was comfortable in his presence, for sometimes expressing comfort, or even enjoyment, is more damaging to an opponent’s psyche than simply hitting them with a big single shot.
Here, with Crawford, you had a sense of that from the outset. You had a sense that as well as peppering Canelo with punches from all angles and at all speeds, he wanted to reveal to him the extent to which he was relaxed when throwing them by either smiling at him or shooting him a lingering stare after the bell. The same goes for taking shots, too. In round four, for instance, Crawford was tagged by a solid right hand from Alvarez only to grin back at him, conveying none of the shock the Mexican would have liked to have seen.
Crawford was, after all, the naturally smaller opponent. He was supposed to be skittish and unsure, not composed and playful. The idea, from Alvarez’s point of view, was to control him in the ring and to suffocate him. The idea was to not only look bigger but have him feel it as well.
In the fifth, Alvarez got closer to that goal by increasing his volume, but that, it turned out, was one of only a couple of rounds he won uncontested. The rest belonged to Crawford, whose confidence increased as the bout progressed and whose constant movement was only ever measured, never scared. By round six, he managed to redden Alvarez’s right eye and could be seen smiling through his gum shield having manoeuvred himself around Alvarez and made him miss. You remembered then how the two fighters had been serenaded to the ring by a mariachi band and understood that this, the performance to follow, was not necessarily in keeping with the tradition of great Mexican fights but was instead an extension of the bull-vs-matador lineage. Perhaps feeling this too, Crawford, in round six, stopped to lick his lips.
“We have to be more active,” said Alvarez’s coach, Eddy Reynoso, between rounds six and seven, having seen what we had all seen. He had, like us, watched Alvarez become subservient and play the bull in round six. He had also seen the frustration in the bull’s demeanour when he turned on his heels and headed back to the corner at the end of the round.
Crucially, he could do little about it, Alvarez. He was still looking for that left hook to the body, just to slow Crawford down, but by now Crawford was reading his every move and ensuring he was ready to fire back whenever Alvarez attacked. This mentality had him landing a nice left uppercut off the ropes in round seven, as well as an eye-catching flurry to Alvarez’s body in the eighth. It was then at the end of that round, the eighth, that Alvarez offered his opponent his glove, either to show his respect or win his sympathy, only for Crawford to stare back at him and refuse to touch it.
With neither anger nor kindness working, the only thing left for Alvarez to do was get physical and try to drag it out of himself in round nine. Cue an accidental head clash and a small cut by Crawford’s right eye. Now, whereas once it was Alvarez frustrated, it was Crawford who suddenly looked frustrated – no, disappointed. Disappointed the way a father is disappointed with a child. That kind of disappointment.
Not enough to deter him, the cut was nevertheless a sign of the precariousness of the situation and a reminder, to Crawford, of how things can quickly change in a boxing ring. By the round’s end Crawford was moving more than ever. There was even restlessness among the crowd. On Netflix’s subtitles: [CROWD BOOS].
All things being equal, Crawford, a great finisher, would have liked to have finished what he started, as he has done so many times before. However, it was not so easy last night, against a bigger man, to just set his feet, turn the screw, and land big shots at will. There had to instead be a thought process behind every punch and every move he made. The key thing, as far as he was concerned, was that he never let Canelo attack without responding in kind and that he never gave Canelo reason to believe he was feeling either the pace or his punches. This explained Crawford becoming unnecessarily busy in the final two rounds and why he took a few risks just to show Canelo that he was finishing strong and could keep going.
Only later, of course, when the decision was announced, did we appreciate how vital it was for Crawford to finish the fight in this manner. Only later did we realise just how small the margins really were last night in Las Vegas.
But Crawford, he knew. He sensed it. That’s why he came out and won the 11th round big and why, in the 12th, he appeared so bold and so fearless, almost as if his recklessness was no more than an indication of self-belief. In that round he stood with Alvarez, he outpunched him, and by the end of it Alvarez was curiously looking away, walking away, and trying all the tricks of the smaller man wanting to distract a larger, more dominant opponent. In a word, he was out of ideas. He was beaten. He was lost.
Scores of 116-112 and 115-113 (twice) confirmed Alvarez’s loss – the third of his career – and relieved him of his belts (WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO). But the real confirmation of his loss – of form, speed, and ideas – could be found in those final two rounds. “Canelo’s a great champion,” said Crawford afterwards. “I’ve got to take my hat off to him. He’s a strong competitor. I’m a big fan of Canelo and he fought like a champion today.”
Netflix, who broadcast the fight, has a habit of asking “Did you like this?” whenever a customer has viewed a particular film, documentary or series in the hope of feeding them more of the same. When doing so, the options they provide are usually as follows: a down-pointing thumb for dislike, an up-pointing thumb for like, and two thumbs up for love.
Depending on how you answer that question, Netflix will either steer you towards more of the same content or take you down a different path altogether. And yet, for all the many options, it is hard to imagine what can follow a performance like last night’s from Terence Crawford, now 42-0 (31 KOs). Even if one chooses to vote with two thumbs up, and one should, what can then be recommended after witnessing that level of greatness? What can even come close? (Jake Paul vs Gervonta Davis on Netflix in November? Hardly.)
The answer is nothing.
Just as two years ago it seemed almost impossible for Crawford to follow what he produced against Errol Spence in Las Vegas, to follow last night’s win against Alvarez seems every bit as difficult. Indeed, perhaps that’s why Max Kellerman, working for Netflix, chose to float the idea of retirement to Crawford without any prompting or clues. Perhaps he too could see no other fights to recommend or surpass it.
“I don’t know,” said Crawford, 37, to the question of retirement. “I’ve got to sit down with my team and we’ll talk about it.”
As for the rest of us, we’ll likely do the same. We’ll talk about it, we’ll consider the options on his behalf, and we’ll spread word of his greatness to anybody still blind to it. We’ll then ensure that every time somebody searches Netflix for something “classic” or “cerebral” or “inspiring” to watch, the algorithm leads them directly to the name Terence “Bud” Crawford.
