Boxing

Teddy Atlas Warns Canelo Alvarez That Sparring ‘Boots’ Could Backfire vs Terence Crawford

Teddy Atlas shared blunt verdict on Canelo Alvarez sparring Jaron Ennis.
Apratim Banerjee|
Boxing icon Teddy Atlas.
Boxing icon Teddy Atlas. | IMAGO / Christian Schroedter

Teddy Atlas has given his expert take on Canelo Alvarez sparring Jaron 'Boots' Ennis for the Terence Crawford fight. September 13 marks the biggest fight in recent memory as Canelo takes on Crawford with the undisputed super middleweight title on the line.

The fight takes place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and will be broadcast worldwide on Netflix. Both fighters are leaving no stones unturned in preparation.

Canelo has brought in Ennis as his sparring partner to prepare for Crawford. Ennis, much like Canelo and Crawford, is one of the top pound-for-pound superstars in boxing. Atlas, though, thinks Canelo's decision to spar 'Boots' could backfire severely.

Teddy Atlas on Canelo Alvarez sparring 'Boots' for Terence Crawford

Images that surfaced on social media showed Canelo with a black eye following a sparring session with 'Boots' and rumors percolated that Ennis might have gotten the better of him during those sessions. Atlas thinks a veteran like Canelo shouldn't go hard in sparring.

Speaking on his show, Atlas said, "I don't want to leave it in the gym. I don't want to get into that kind of war in the gym. No, I want to have control of all aspects of what the hell I'm doing in the gym to get ready for one night."

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Atlas points out that Canelo has had over 60 professional fights and is 35 years old. Hence, it's crucial to manage what he has left in the tank.

He said, "I wouldn't want wars with my guy who's been in 65 [67] fights. 34 [35] years old and getting ready for, you know, maybe well, he's been in a lot of big fights, but right now it's the biggest fight of his career. He's getting ready for this fight. I don't want, if I have an older car that's been that's got a lot of miles, on the odometer."

Terence Crawford's reaction to Canelo Alvarez sparring 'Boots'

Crawford, meanwhile, thinks Canelo sparring 'Boots' shows how serious the Mexican is about the clash. He said in a recent media scrum, "That goes to show how serious he’s taking me and how much he respects me. Because if I hadn’t fought anyone, if I was too small, if I was all these things that all the media say I was, then he wouldn’t need these guys to help prepare him to fight me."

Crawford also reckons that 'Boots' is not him and has a long way to go before accomplishing what he has done inside the ring.

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Apratim Banerjee
APRATIM BANERJEE

Apratim is a Boxing and Soccer reporter for On SI. He has been in the industry for five years, having also worked for The Sporting News, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, and more. After coming from an engineering background, he started pursuing a career in sports media. Apratim also holds an MSc. Sport Marketing degree from Loughborough University London and is a keen practitioner of social media and digital marketing. In his spare time, Apratim likes to play an array of sports and practice calisthenics. He is also an avid enthusiast of improving his martial arts skills.