By Norm Frauenheim
Unintended consequences, or at least attention and speculation, have been there for Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez in the wake of their fight, one of the biggest in years.
That’s no surprise. More than a reported 42 million watched on Netflix. More than 70,000 watched in person. Everybody walked away wondering what’s next.
From the fighters, however, there’s been mostly silence, especially from Crawford, the winner whose hometown celebration took a wild turn when he was held at gunpoint in a traffic stop just hours after Omaha gave its loyal son a key to the city.
Crawford has yet to comment about what happened early Sunday. If he’s going to say anything, the best guess is that he’ll wait until a possible court appearance, perhaps in December. A crush of speculation and an ongoing in-house investigation by Omaha police suggest that’s the only smart move. Crawford has made a lot of those over the last couple of years.
Meanwhile, Canelo also has been silent about news, reported by The Ring, that he’ll undergo surgery on his left elbow.
At 35 years old, that raises questions, lots of them He’s talked about retiring when he turns 37. But he’s under contract for two more fights with Saudi Prince and promoter Turki Alalshikh, whose seemingly unlimited bankroll is revolutionizing the prize-fighting biz.
The guessing game has Canelo, who will be 36 next July, returning to the ring some time in mid 2026. His next opening bell had been expected in February. Now, it looks as if he won’t fight again until sometime between May and September – Cinco de Mayo and Mexico’s Independence Day on Sept. 16
The biggest question, of course, is against whom? His army of Mexican fans want to see him avenge his scorecard loss to Crawford. But Crawford’s dominance raises questions whether a sequel would be any different.
In hindsight, the cards – 115-113 twice and 116-112, all for Crawford, look to be too close, especially the 115-113 scores.
Canelo never had a chance.
Why would he have one eight to 12 months from now?
Good question, but news of the surgery already is generating some second-guessing about whether Canelo’s left elbow was somehow injured before opening bell.
He never complained about it during or after the fight, yet his partisans already are pointing out that, according to ringside stats, he landed only 16 jabs in losing the undisputed super-middleweight title Sept.13 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
But he’s never been known for his jab. The power in his left hand is considered his best weapon. Would he have had a better chance if it had been attached to a healthy elbow? The answer might be as much marketing as it medical.
The questions are all part of speculation that often leads to a hunger for more.
For both, there are rich reasons to do it all over again. Count them. Bank them. There are more than 150-million reasons. Canelo collected an astonishing $100-million-plus, according to Alalshikh.
Yet, Canelo, who is getting ready for surgery on Oct. 23, isn’t talking about the reported injury.
He doesn’t have to. Everybody around him is talking about it and how surgery might repair an elbow and the public interest in a rich rematch.
