As expected, the September 12 mega showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford has ignited a wave of discussion across the boxing world. Most experts and fans continue to place Canelo as the clear favorite. However, Crawford has been steadily gaining ground with oddsmakers. Especially, Canelo’s recent win over William Scull seems to have caused a minor shift in the odds.

Still, with four months to go before the two meet at Allegiant Stadium, it is premature to assume that Crawford will be walking into a one-sided win. Since last August’s fight against Israil Madrimov, Crawford has remained in the public eye and has not shown signs of decline. However, it doesn’t mean his challenges are over. Danny Garcia, who has experienced firsthand the difficulty of long layoffs and weight jumps, understands what Crawford is facing. From his perspective, facing someone like Canelo is an entirely different challenge. Whatever critiques exist about Canelo, Crawford has never encountered a fighter of his style, power, or resume.

Danny Garcia on Terence Crawford’s win: perhaps a bit optimistic

During a recent conversation with Fight Hub TV’s Ron Goodall, Garcia reflected on his own past and how it intersects with Crawford’s. Goodall highlighted the shared amateur history between the two. Garcia, as he reminded viewers, holds a win over Crawford from their amateur days. There’s also the added pop culture connection. Grammy-winning rapper Eminem, who walked Crawford to the ring, had name-dropped Garcia in one of his earlier tracks.

Given that Crawford is jumping up not one but two weight classes to challenge Canelo, the Fight Hub TV reporter asked, “He’s going out to fight Canelo, and you know I just wanted to get your thoughts, Danny. You’ve definitely done some Duran stuff, jumping up weight and daring to be great, so I mean, is there stuff that concerns you a little bit?”

Now Garcia’s response centered around his own experience. He pointed to his 28-month layoff before returning to fight at a higher weight. In hindsight, he felt that taking a tune-up fight before making the leap might have changed the outcome.

So he said, “Crawford has been active, and he’s been a champion his whole career. You know that’s something you got to give Crawford for. You got to give Crawford his, um, his flowers. He’s really been a champion since 2012. You know, he’s never not been a champion, so he has the champion’s mindset. He is going up to 168, so that’s a steep hill to climb, you know. Uh, I mean, he has the tools.” That said, he added a note of caution, “But I think I think Canelo is going to—in my personal opinion, I think Canelo is going to be too much for him.”

He’s great, but is he there?

One might take Garcia’s comments as a warning to proceed with care. Even for someone as skilled and active as Crawford, moving up two weight classes presents a serious challenge. Crawford’s discipline and ring IQ are undeniable. However, the physical demands of facing a naturally bigger and battle-tested fighter like Canelo cannot be overlooked.

But it’s a view quite a few share. During an interview with Chris Mannix, legendary commentator Jim Lampley called Terence Crawford a ‘latter-day Sugar Ray Robinson.’ However, he also suggested that Canelo ‘will retire without incurring another loss because it’s important to him.’ Canelo’s last defeat came at the hands of Dmitry Bivol. So what Lampley basically means is that the Mexican superstar will likely sail through the Nebraskan’s challenge when they meet in September.

Do you differ with what Danny Garcia and Jim Lampley said?