Boxing

Terence Crawford Addresses Rumored Shoulder Injury Before Canelo Alvarez Fight

Terence Crawford got honest about claims he's dealing with a significant shoulder injury before his superfight against Canelo Alvarez.
Grant Young|
Terence Crawford on June 26, 2025.
Terence Crawford on June 26, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Terence Crawford already has a significant physical hurdle ahead of him just by fighting Canelo Alvarez on September 13. This is owed to the fact that Crawford (whose last fight was at 154 pounds but has spent the vast majority of his career fighting at 147 pounds) is jumping all the way up to the 168-pound super middleweight division to challenge Canelo's undisputed throne.

Many believe this is already a bridge too far for Crawford, if only because weight classes exist in boxing for a reason, and Canelo's strength and power advantage will be too much for Crawford to deal with. Therefore, once rumors began surfacing that Crawford had a significant physical injury that would presumably impact his performance,

The rumors began swirling with X account @Pound4our4Pound made a post on September 8 that read, "Damn!! I’m hearing from a close source that Terence Crawford’s shoulder that he had surgery on has been 'flaring up' in camp

"Apparently it has been a lingering issue for the past 8-10 weeks & is being monitored closely."

This post absolutely blew up, as it currently has well over 280,000 views in about 48 hours. However, there was no indication of where this account got this information from, which caused speculation about the report's validity.

And even more red flags about this report were raised when the X account @AccordToBoxing made a post one day later that read, "Terence Crawford’s Shoulder Injury Lies DEBUNKED

"The same page that made up the story about Mayweather going to Colorado to see Crawford is the page that made up a random lie about Crawford having an injury over the past 8 weeks…

"Video evidence suggests that this is just a desperate act from the usual suspects.."

Floyd Mayweather's former manager backs Terence Crawford against Canelo Alvarez
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Terence Crawford Sets the Record Straight on Shoulder Injury Rumors

Ultimately, the only person who could answer this rumor with complete accuracy was Crawford himself. And that's exactly what he did when speaking with Fight Hub TV on September 9.

"Where do I got a shoulder injury?" Crawford said while moving his shoulders around normally. "I don't know. I think people coming up with they own antics. 'Terence Crawford got a shoulder injury, Terence Crawford out of shape, Terence Crawford slow.' They coming up with all kinds of stuff!"

It doesn't sound like Crawford has any shoulder injury of note. Then again, no fighter steps into the ring with a completely clean bill of health. And if Crawford did have an injury, he certainly wouldn't be admitting to it three days before the biggest fight of his life.

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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.