Crawford says Canelo fight has no weight restrictions: ‘I want him at his best, no excuses’

Terence Crawford will jump up two weight classes to challenge undisputed super middleweight king Canelo Alvarez in their Sept. 13 superfight.

Although Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) will be the naturally smaller-framed fighter, he revealed that Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) won’t have any weight restrictions come fight night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“Because I want him at his best,” Crawford told reporters Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, regarding potential catchweight and rehydration clauses in the contract. “I don’t want no excuses. I don’t want no reasons why he don’t feel good or anything. I want him at his best.”

Crawford also mentioned that he didn’t push for a rematch clause, but didn’t specify if Alvarez has one if he loses.

Crawford is set to have a 3 ½-inch reach advantage a half-inch height advantage. When they came face to face at the kickoff press conference, they were nearly identical in height and build. Alvarez is three years younger but has 26 more fights and has competed in 275 more rounds than Crawford.

Weight restrictions have been weighty issues for some significant fights in recent memory. Most notably, Gervonta Davis forced Ryan Garcia to take a fight at a 136-pound catchweight and with a 10-pound rehydration clause in 2023. Garcia later said he was weight drained and pointed to that as the primary reason he was knocked out by Davis.

To get a potential deal across the finish line against Alvarez, rival David Benavidez agreed last year to a rehydration clause to quell concerns that he’d be up to 25 pounds heavier. That matchup never materialized.

Alvarez has previously been on the wrong side of weight clauses in high-profile fights as well.

During his first career loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013, Alvarez entered as the reigning WBC and WBA 154-pound champion. The bout was fought at a catchweight of 152 pounds, a condition Mayweather insisted on after initially proposing 147 and 150. Alvarez, however, stood his ground and rejected a next-day weigh-in. On fight night, it was reported that Alvarez rehydrated to 165, while Mayweather weighed 150.5.

Three months from now, Alvarez should look larger than Crawford in prime time on Netflix.

Alvarez has been competing at 168 since 2018 and has even fought twice as a light heavyweight, with one of those fights being his other loss to Dmitry Bivol in 2022. Alvarez made his pro debut at 140 pounds at 15 and has won titles across 154, 160, 168, and 175.

Crawford became a lightweight champion in 2014, fought at 140 pounds from 2015-17 and became undisputed champion and competed at 147 from 2018-23 to become undisputed champion there as well. Crawford fought only once at 154, a unanimous decision win against Israil Madrimov for the WBA title in August.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan