Boxing

Manny Pacquiao Reveals What Canelo Must Do To Beat Terence Crawford

Manny Pacquiao got honest when asked whether Canelo Alvarez could beat Terence Crawford in a rematch.
Grant Young|
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

It seemed like every person in the boxing community weighed in on who they thought would win when Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez faced each other on September 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, there are few people whose boxing opinions are respected more than the legendary Manny Pacquiao, who has already asserted himself as one of the all-time greats after a career that includes becoming the only eight-division world champion in boxing history and winning 12 major world titles overall.

When Pacquiao was asked what advice he would give Crawford for fighting Canelo (given that Canelo is the bigger guy between them) during a May 23 interview with FightHub TV, Pacquiao said, "My advice is that he would make sure to focus on speed. That's the problem when you're moving up [in weight], that your speed and power [go]. So he needs to focus [on that]."

Pacquiao's advice proved to be poignant. Crawford made great use of his speed advantage, as he was able to pepper Canelo with shots throughout the 12-round bout while managing to evade most of Canelo's counters. And this resulted in Crawford securing a dominant unanimous decision victory to take Canelo's undisputed super middleweight belts.

Canelo Alvarez (black/gold trunks) and Terence Crawford (black/red trunks) box on September 13, 2025
Canelo Alvarez (black/gold trunks) and Terence Crawford ( | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Manny Pacquiao Explains How Canelo Can Beat Crawford in Rematch

Pacquiao's career and past comments have made it clear how much he values speed and being light enough to move his feet when entering the ring. And he echoed this sentiment when asked what Canelo must do to beat Crawford in a potential rematch during a December 13 interview with FightHype.

After saying that he wasn't overly impressed with Crawford's performance against Canelo, he said, "[Canelo] wasn't in the top condition. Canelo, he's big. He's big in weight. So he's getting slower, not like before."

When asked if Canelo can beat Crawford in a rematch, Pacquiao said, "If he loses weight. Like, he's big, so that's why he was slow."

This is a fascinating insight, given that many felt like Canelo having the size and weight advantage would actually play into his favor during the Crawford fight rather than putting him at a disadvantage. However, he would clearly need to switch something up to give himself a better shot against Crawford.

Canelo's coach, Eddy Reynoso, said on December 12 that Canelo intends not to fight until next September, when he hopes to rematch Crawford. This will give him plenty of time to slim down and hopefully gain some speed back.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.