Strength Coach Warns: Terence Crawford’s Power-Feeding To 180lbs Will Lead To Disaster Against Canelo Alvarez

Strength and conditioning coach Rob Acosta believes Terence Crawford is heading for trouble, bulking up by eating his way to the 180s for his September 13th fight against Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight in Riyadh.

(Credit: Melina Pizano/Matchroom)

Too Big, Too Fast?

Crawford ate his way to 168 because he’s put on weight rapidly since his last fight in August. He doesn’t look toned anymore, and you can tell he’s been power-feeding. Crawford just looks like a typical fighter who has been on the feed bag, overly grazing, thinking he can transform himself into a super middleweight by eating alone.

He says that Crawford will cut down to 168 to make weight and then rehydrate to mid-170s to challenge Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) for his belts. That extra weight that Crawford puts on for the fight it won’t transform him into another Gennadiy Golovkin power-wise. He’s not going to be what he was never designed to be. He would be an overweight welterweight and very slow.

Crawford will be carrying 175 into a fight for the first time in his 17-year professional career, going up against a fighter who has competed at that weight for many years. In other words, it won’t end well for the soon-to-be 38-year-old Crawford. He’ll be slower, weaker, and getting hit harder than he’s ever been hit before.

“Crawford has come from 154. He’s going to skip 160 and go straight to 168,” said strength coach Rob Acosta to Fighthype about Terence Crawford bulking up from 154 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his unified titles at super middleweight in September. “Let’s say Crawford walks around at 180. He’s going to come down those 12 rounds to make it 168. ”

Crawford’s decision not to stop at 160 to fight one of the top guys in that weight class first was a mistake. If he was against the idea of taking a tune-up at 168 to get his feet wet, at the very least, he should have stopped at 160 and fought Janibek Alimkhanuly to get a feel for facing a bigger fighter with more power. Janibek is one of the biggest punchers at middleweight, and he would have gotten Crawford better prepped to fight Canelo at 168. Was Terence afraid of being exposed by a middleweight?

Eating Up?

“He ate his way up to 180. Understand that. He didn’t work out his way up to 180,” said Acosta. “That’s the difference. So, if you’re just going to eat, eat, eat you’re way up to a heavier weight, assuming because you sparred heavier guys, assuming you can perform at a top level against a guy [Canelo] who has been there numerous times and is very comfortable at this weight and coming down from a heavier weight. That’s a whole different animal.”

Crawford sparring the inexperienced, slow Lester Martinez isn’t the same as fighting a killer like Canelo. If Bud had sparred someone like Osleys Iglesias, that would have been much better preparation for Canelo, but that guy would likely knock out Crawford repeatedly in camp. The last thing Crawford needs is to come into the fight with Canelo half-stunned already from weeks of sparring with Iglesias.

“The last two weeks of very camp is always the most critical time because that’s when the most dumbest things can go wrong,” said Acosta. “It’s super hard to come from 154 all the way to 168 within a specific timeframe and perform as if you were at 140, 147, and 154. We already seen what happened when he went from 147 to 154. It wasn’t a bad performance.

“Crawford took some good shots. He took them well. What do you think is going to happen at 168? Canelo has been hit by GGG, one of the hardest punchers in boxing. Do you mean to tell me that Crawford is just going to go up and clean him out? I don’t see it happening.

“What is he [Crawford] going to rehydrate to? 175? You walk around at that weight. Let’s see what happens when you go in there with a top competitor like Canelo,” said Acosta.