Former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Snr needed little thought to decide who he thinks will prevail in a likely clash between super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and junior middleweight titleholder Terence Crawford in September. 

Asked who he liked in the fight, Rahman – in an interview with FightHype – was silent for a second or two, then said, simply: “Terence.” 

Alvarez first fought at super middleweight in his December 2018 victory over Rocky Fielding before returning one last time to middleweight for his May 2019 decision over Daniel Jacobs. But ever since Alvarez’s November 2019 meeting with Sergey Kovalev, Canelo has been exclusively at 168 or 175lbs. 

Crawford most recently fought at 154lbs – which itself was a leap from an eight-fight run at welterweight en route to becoming the undisputed champion. Canelo is a favorite on most betting sites listing the fight, though not a large one. 

“I feel like Terence can outbox him,” Rahman said, expanding on his prediction. “I don’t think Terence will knock him out. Terence is clever in the ring. Terence know how to maneuver the ring. I think the ring generalship belongs to Terence. I think Canelo got a little spoiled, and I think he’s been fighting softer touches lately. I think that’s gonna be to his disservice in this fight.”

Rahman also said he wasn’t impressed with Canelo’s performance against Jermell Charlo in September 2023: “I feel like that gave Terence a blueprint on how to fight him.”

The Canelo-Charlo fight has proven somewhat divisive to boxing observers, especially for a fight that Canelo won virtually every second of. Canelo never looked troubled by Charlo and knocked him down in the seventh round, but he also failed to visibly hurt Charlo again as the undisputed junior middleweight champion retreated and sought not to engage in a firefight. Keith Thurman has also spoken of this as a potential helping hand to victory for Crawford.

Rahman also acknowledged the several close decisions on Canelo’s resume, indicating that he may not be as untouchable in the ring as some think. Canelo narrowly beat Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara more than a decade ago – some still say Lara deserved to win their fight. More recently, Canelo came away with an unpopular draw in his 2017 fight with Gennadiy Golovkin and a majority decision win in their 2018 rematch. Those who think Golovkin won both of their first two fights are not in short supply.

“I’ve seen Canelo lose fights,” Rahman said. “They just didn’t take them from him.” 

Canelo has a fight scheduled before his presumed clash with Crawford. He will take on IBF titleholder William Scull on May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the chance to win back the belt he vacated and to regain the undisputed championship at 168lbs.