Can Canelo vs Crawford live up to these five blockbusters?

This weekend one of the biggest fights in boxing will finally take place, as Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez takes on Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.

Canelo, who reigns undisputed at 168lbs, will welcome two-division unifier Crawford to super middleweight on Saturday. Millions around the world will be watching live, but both fighters are used to performing under the pressure in headlining bouts.

Ahead of the contest, we have taken a look at five blockbuster nights involving either fighter.

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Just as Canelo would do later on in his career, Floyd Mayweather perfected the art of jumping between divisions to take on big names. Already a five-weight champion when he took on Canelo, Mayweather was only dabbling in the super welterweight division.

He had first jumped to 154lbs to face Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, another high-profile bout with a generational star. Mayweather was victorious via split decision to take the World Boxing Council’s title at super welterweight.

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By the end of the year he had returned to welterweight to defend the WBC version of his belt against Ricky Hatton, with Mayweather only returning to 154lbs in 2012, to take on Miguel Cotto for the World Boxing Association’s primary title at super welterweight.

One brief foray back at 147lbs to keep his WBC welterweight title later, Mayweather was ready to face the WBC’s champion at super welterweight, albeit at a catchweight of 152lbs, two pounds shy of the limit.

Rolling back the years, the 36-year-old Mayweather dominated his 23-year-old opponent, even if that was not properly reflected on the judges’ scorecards.

Mayweather had to settle for a majority decision win - and a reported $41.5million purse. That was prior to any earnings from pay-per-views, which eclipsed 2,200,000, garnering $150m.

Canelo’s fight with Mayweather was his first pay-per-view show as the main event, with the boxer - and his promoters - realising he was a major draw.

Fast forward five years, and Canelo was up to nine pay-per-view main events. Whilst he has yet to reach the same heights as his debut, his first bout with Gennady Golovkin sold 1,300,000 units.

Another controversial decision, Alvarez somehow escaped with a draw after a strong Golovkin performance. There was some argument that a tie was fair, but the major issue was that one judge saw a close fight as a 118-110 Canelo win, only giving ‘Triple G’ two rounds.

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Drama sells, and that commodity only grew with the rematch postponed after Canelo was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for six months after a failed drugs test.

Over one million fans bought pay-per-views, and that was enough for $120,000,000 to be earned. The fight itself was a blockbuster - with The Ring naming it their fight of the year for 2018.

Compared to the original meeting, Canelo was far more aggressive, producing an enthralling contest. Close throughout, the final round proved decisive. Up 105-104, Canelo needed to convince two of the judges that he had won the last three minutes to avoid another draw.

Ultimately, he did just that, winning a majority decision. Again, public opinion suggested that ‘Triple G’ was hard done by, having outlanded his Mexican opponent once more.

So tight were the two fights that a third trilogy bout was made for 2022, with Alvarez beating a Golovkin clearly past his prime.

Becoming undisputed in one division is rare enough, but Crawford made history when he defeated Errol Spence Jr in 2023 to win all four belts at a second weight.

He became the first man to reign as undisputed in two separate weight classes in the four belt era, although he would soon be joined by Naoya Inoue later that same year, before Oleksandr Usyk achieved the feat in 2024.

Despite being a three-division world champion with a better record to Spence, Crawford entered this bout as the B-side, his opponent holding three of the four belts required to be undisputed.

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If there was any feeling that Spence was the favourite, that quickly dissipated as soon as the fight started. Crawford came out flying, with Spence becoming bewildered and overwhelmed as he was knocked down three times.

In the ninth round, Crawford would settle matters. Already up 79-70 on the cards, ‘Bud’ would unleash one final right hook on the bloodied face of Spence, the referee seeing enough and jumping in.

The fight was a hit, with 700,000 watching via pay-per-view, generating over $59million, with a further $20m earned via ticket sales. A rematch clause was activated by Spence, but no second bout was ever made. Over two years later, Spence is still to return to the ring.

Canelo and Miguel Cotto had proven their pay-per-view pull years before, so it is no surprise that the pair decided to share a ring together.

Both losing their super welterweight titles to Mayweather, Cotto had also fought big names in Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley on pay-per-view. In fact, he was still the bigger pull in 2015, taking the A-side - and $15million in purse money, triple the amount Canelo was getting.

Billed as ‘Battle of Latinos’, referencing Cotto and Canelo being Puerto Rican and Mexican respectively, the WBC and Ring middleweight titles were on the line. The fight lived up to expectations, with The Ring naming it their fight of 2015.

Alvarez would take a healthy unanimous decision, as both men showed their granite chins as they took heavy blows to the head, Cotto in particular.

HBO’s figures at the time stated that the pay-per-view sold 900,000 copies, the largest amount for a bout not featuring Pacquiao, Mayweather, or De La Hoya.

With Cotto at the end of his career, pay-per-view had found their newest star - Canelo.

Freshly minted as a world champion for the first time after defeating Scot Ricky Burns in his own backyard, Crawford quickly looked to add more impressive wins to his resume.

He certainly did not pick an easy first defence, welcoming Olympic gold medallist and former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa to his home city of Omaha, Nebraska in June 2014.

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It was his first professional fight in the city and as such served a triumphant homecoming following his success in March that same year. Gamboa started brightly, using his speed to good effect, but ‘Bud’ slowly turned the screw.

Knockdowns in the fifth and eighth round spelt the end for Gamboa, who hit the canvas twice in the ninth as the fight was waved off. Although not a pay-per-view, viewership peaked at over 1.2million as Crawford showcased his credentials.

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