Commentator Max Kellerman believes Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford had a similar conflict on September 13 with 1983 unified middleweight champion Marvin Hagler and former lightweight Robert Duran.
Kellerman’s Canelo-Crawford, Hagler-Duran comparison
Duran moved the weight class to Level 135 for years before challenging Hagler’s IBF and WBC middleweight championships to Hagler on November 10, 1983. Duran brought a tough time to Hagler, winning 144-142, 144-144-143 and 146-145 unanimous decisions.
After that battle, Duran’s career has never been the same. In the next game, he was wiped out, eliminated in two rounds, and continued to oppose the good opposition. While Duran gave Hagler a tough moment was a good story, he wasn’t the same fighter after that fight.
Crawford’s age, the last battle problem
Can we see the same thing happening to Crawford, 37? He is older than Duran, 32, then-year-old, who looked terrible in his last fight with Israel Madrimov last August.
“He (Hagler) is a middleweight man, just like Canelo is a super middleweight guy. He is (four undisputed) champions,” Max Kellerman xcompare Hagler vs. Duran’s battle with Canelo vs. Crawford match. “Duran went from middleweight to middleweight, but he started from lightweight (correction: when Duran started, he started lightweight), just like Crawford.”
Hagler’s Duran’s former resume checked
What Kellerman overlooks is that Hagler did not face many advanced fighters in his career before fighting Duran. At the time, Marvin was the IBF and WBC middleweight champion, but his resume was filled with many European and goalkeeper fighters. Hagler was once attracted by Vito Antuofermo, and his fighter lost to Alan Minter twice.
Other victories on Hagler’s resume are a mix of B and C warriors. Before facing Duran, Marvin did not have combat A-level or elite-level fighters. So it’s no surprise that he struggles to beat the smaller, weaker and older Roberto.
“Getting into this fight, I think, ‘Hagler will kill him. He’s too big.’ This fight has been Nip and Tuck, and Hagler had to eliminate him (Duran) in the 15th round to make a decision,” Kellerman said.
Kellerman’s childish Hagler
As Max pointed out, He’s just a child As he watched the fight; he was naively overrated Hagler, not big enough to check his resume to know that he had mainly beaten the ham and Eggs, rather than the talented butter of the crop-level fighter. Older fans who followed the sport at the time realized that Hagler might lose as he finally faced an elite-level fighter, albeit smaller and weaker.
“So, that’s the kind of fight I’m seeing here,” Kellerman said of the Canelo vs. Crawford game. “I think it will be a very competitive battle.
Last updated on June 28, 20125
