Boxing

Sugar Ray Leonard Casts 5-Word Doubt On Canelo Alvarez's Floyd Mayweather Shade

Boxing icon Sugar Ray Leonard delivered his take on Canelo Alvarez saying Terence Crawford is better than Floyd Mayweather.
Grant Young|
Jul 10, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard arrives on the red carpet at Microsoft Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Jul 10, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard arrives on the red carpet at Microsoft Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Everybody in the boxing community has an opinion about the September 13 showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Given that this fight will make a massive impact on both fighters' legacies, each man is sure to enter the ring in top form.

While Crawford boasts an undefeated 41-0 record that includes 31 KOs, Canelo has two losses on his otherwise immaculate resumé. One of these defeats came at the hands of Dmitry Bivol in May 2022, and the other was the result of Canelo fighting the legendary Floyd Mayweather back in September 2013.

There's certainly no shame in anybody losing to Mayweather, as he finished his career as arguably one of the greatest boxers in the sport's history. However, Canelo turned heads earlier this week when asserting that he thinks Crawford is a better overall boxer.

"I think Crawford is better than Mayweather because he turns his guard to both sides, he's more intelligent. I think he's better than Floyd Mayweather. That's what I think," Canelo said during a June 21 interview with The Sun.

While Canelo is of course entitled to his own opinion (and his speaking so highly of his future opponent is only going to heighten anticipation for this megafight), this sentiment was always going to raise eyebrows from boxing fans.

And boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard delivered his own take on Canelo's comments, which was conveyed during a June 25 interview with Fight Hype.

"Hey, they've got to prove that," Leonard said while shaking his head when asked his thoughts on Canelo saying Crawford is better than Floyd.

The interesting part of this sentiment is that the only way Canelo could prove his comments correct is by also losing to Crawford, which is something he's surely not looking to do.

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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.