Terence Crawford doesn’t boast the power to win this Sunday’s famed KO bonus from billionaire Saudi promoter Turki Al-Sheikh.
This is the blunt warning from Australian boxing stars George Kambosos and Liam Paro, who are both backing Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez to reign supreme in Las Vegas – although remain split on how boxing’s greatest drawcard gets it done.
The revelation comes as a host of the sport’s biggest names find themselves split over the Allegiant Stadium headliner, with the likes of Mike Tyson, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Amir Khan, Andre Ward, even Tim Tszyu unable to agree on an outcome.
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Currently the undisputed super middleweight king, Alvarez is the $1.58 TAB favourite against Crawford, who is moving up two weight classes and the $2.40 betting outsider.
Elsewhere, a Crawford KO is also paying $9 with bookies – or more than double Canelo’s payout for the same method of victory.
Already, His Excellency has revealed the winner of Sunday’s hyped headliner will receive a lucrative KO bonus as part of his growing war against “Tom and Jerry fights” – or boxers ‘running’ in the ring.
Several fighters are tipping ‘Bud’ to do just that — with Shakur Stevenson even going as far as to suggest the American will “cook” Alvarez.
Terence Crawford, Turki Al-Sheikh and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (L-R) after the super middleweight fight on the Fatal Fury City of Wolves card at ANB Arena on May 03, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
However when asked for their own fight week predictions, both Kambosos and Paro have stressed Crawford doesn’t have the power to hurt a rival who has been campaigning 10kg heavier for several years.
Paro also reminded how back in 2023, then undisputed super welterweight king Jermell Charlo moved up two weight classes to challenge Canelo – and suffered a near shutout loss.
Yet while Crawford, meanwhile, has won world titles at welterweight, super lightweight, even lightweight, he looked far from dominant when claiming an interim strap during his one appearance at 154 pounds against Israil Madrimov in August last year,
“When Jermell Charlo went up to face Canelo, he was the monster of that super welterweight division,” Paro said.
“Looked bigger physically (on the scales), too.
“But when it came to fight, Charlo was walked down.
“Made look like the smaller guy.
“Because Canelo, he’s battle tested at super middleweight.
“He’s taken punches from the likes of Triple G, a knockout artist who did nothing to him.
“So I don’t think Crawford can hurt him.”
Later, Paro continued: “Crawford at 140 pounds, 147 pounds was dynamite, knocking guys out.
“But he’s only had one outing at 154.
“And while he was good against Madrimov, it wasn’t as spectacular as his other performances.
“So I think Canelo gets the job done.”
Kambosos agreed, stressing Sunday’s fight would not go the distance.
“There are weight divisions in boxing for a reason,” the former champ said on his Youtube channel.
“And coming up all the way to super middleweight when you’ve fought at welterweight, junior welterweight, lightweight as well … I’m going Canelo by stoppage.
“I don’t think he (Canelo) can beat him on points.
“I truly think his way to victory is stoppage.
“And I don’t think this fight goes the distance …”
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Kambosos added that Canelo needs to pressure Crawford, use his size and “bully” the American.
“Canelo is the pressure fighter,” he said.
“He has to put the pressure on Crawford, land his big shots.
“He’s seasoned at super middleweight, has fought as high as light heavyweight.
“So he is accustomed to the bigger punches, the bigger shots.
“I don’t think Crawford can really land anything that’s going to trouble a guy like Canelo Alvarez.”
For Paro, Sunday also represents an intriguing day of fights.
Especially given only hours before the Canelo-Crawford blockbuster takes place, Irishman Paddy Donovan faces Lewis Crocker for the IBF welterweight world title in Belfast – with the Queenslander then potentially slated for the winner.
However to get there, Paro must first defeat unbeaten Frenchman David Papot (30-0-1) in his own upcoming No Limit pay-per-view headliner in Brisbane on September 18.
While the Aussie has no preferred rival for any world title showdown – and a fight No Limit would look to bring Down Under – the fighter stressed he is “confident of beating either one”.
In Sunday’s other fight, Paro said that while Canelo undeniably has the ability to stop Crawford, he actually sees the Las Vegas blockbuster being decided by the judges.
“I just don’t know about Alvarez stopping him,” the Mackay southpaw said.
“Obviously Canelo has iced proper super middleweights.
“So who knows?
“But Crawford is obviously one hell of a fighter too, so I think it will be points.”
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Elsewhere, other fighters tipping a Canelo victory include Ryan Garcia, David Benavidez and Iron Mike Tyson, who told this week’s edition of The Big Podcast: “I want Crawford to win, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen”.
However those backing ‘Bud’ include Devin Haney, Amir Khan, Teddy Atlas, Tim Tszyu and Shakur Stevenson, who says the American will “cook” Alvarez.
Boxing great Andre Ward, who will be part of the Netflix broadcast, is also backing an upset.
“I’m going with Terence Crawford,” Ward said recently.
“Big weight jump. A dangerous fight.
“But somebody has got to prove to me that they can break Terence Crawford’s will, and that he can’t figure it out in there against you.
“It ain’t no disrespect toward Canelo.
“But I’ve said this … I’m not betting against Terence Crawford against nobody right now.
“You’ve got to show me that you can beat him”.
Worth noting is the fact that Canelo has been forced to go the distance in each of his six most recent wins at the super middleweight limit, meaning the Mexican superstar will need to shake things up to claim His Excellency’s bonus.
Canelo’s most recent win by stoppage came in his first undisputed super middleweight title fight – stopping IBF super middleweight champ Caleb Plant in a tense 2021 grudge match.