By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS – It was called ceremonial. But a huge, roaring crowd called for it to be known as something else.
Something more.
Much more.
It was off the scale, a Woodstock of weigh-ins Friday at T-Mobile Arena for a crowd that gathered in huge numbers and generated noise that echoed up-and-down the Vegas Strip in a sure sign of mounting interest in the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
The weigh-in, the real one, had already happened, hours earlier in a chilly, quiet ballroom in a luxury hotel at the opposite end of The Strip.
For the record, both Canelo and Crawford weighed the same, each at 167.5 pounds, safely under the super-middleweight’s 168 limit.
There wasn’t an ounce of difference between them, perhaps an indication of just how close this fight for Canelo’s super-middleweight title really is. The late afternoon weigh-in was staged to sell a few more tickets and Netflix subscriptions.
But the crowd, perhaps as big as any in Vegas’ long and colorful boxing history, delivered an exclamation point to anticipation rare in this era of boxing. It’s been called a dying sport. From lower bowl to the upper deck at T-Mobile, however, that obituary sounded premature Friday.
This ceremony wasn’t a funeral. It was a celebration. Even Crawford and then Canelo seemed almost surprised at the roar that greeted them as they walked onto the stage and stepped onto a scale that was little more than a prop.
It came with expectations, all of which will echo throughout the hours before opening bell in a ring that figures to be near the 50-yard line on the Raiders home field.
Canelo, the favorite, spoke to the crowd of Mexican partisans with a promise to do everything.
“I trained for everything,’’ said Canelo, who continues to be a narrow betting favorite. “I’ll need to do everything in this fight.”
He said it in a way that suggested some emerging respect for Crawford and his comprehensive skillset.
Throughout the build-up for the fight, there’s been a sense that Canelo and Crawford are more than just business partners in a bout that reportedly will add at least $100 million to Canelo’s net worth. They like each other. There’s been no trash talk and an absence of dismissive gestures.
Crawford, a two-time undisputed champion at welterweight and junior welter, hears boos only from the Canelo fans. They – fans and boos — were everywhere Friday.
Crawford jumped on and off the scale quickly Friday. He exited the stage, before Canelo spoke. Then, the promoters asked him back for a word.
When he returned, there they were, the boos all over again.
Nobody had to ask him about them. Instead, he was asked:
How are you feeling?
“Lovely,’’ Crawford said as if he were enjoying a deep breath of the noisy element that has motivated him throughout his brilliant career.
Defiance is Crawford’s oxygen.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow,’’ he said.
This time the crowd only roared, as if to say nobody else can either.