The Hang-Dog Look: Canelo’s Disengagement Signals Trouble Ahead Against A Money-Motivated Crawford

The hang-dog look Canelo Alvarez had standing next to Terence Crawford after his fight against William Scull on May 3rd had the appearance of a fighter who is disengaged, unmotivated for their September 12th clash.

Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) looked both sad and old. Crawford is a fight that Canelo doesn’t really want, but he’s taking it because of the pressure and the money he’s being given. It’s easy to read Canelo.

MOUNTAIN MAN?

You could tell he was unhappy with his performance against Scull, because he’d looked poor and knew he had. This is a fighter that Alvarez would have destroyed in his prime years from 2016 to 2021. He couldn’t do it, and he looked old as the hills in that fight. If Crawford wins, it’s going to ruin Canelo. He might react like Ted Kaczynski and retreat from society to hide in the mountains.

Some people react to shame in different ways by hiding. For Canelo to lose to a smaller, older fighter than him, like Crawford, it would be a tough pill for him to swallow. I could see him holding up in a cabin in the mountains like Kaczynski, stewing on the loss and being tortured by it.

That performance may have broken Canelo’s self-belief, forcing him to confront the reality that he’s not the young fighter he was years ago, when he was fighting the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley.

The Contrast in Desire

It’s the classic look of an unmotivated person doubting himself and dealing with age. Crawford is old, too, but his motivation appears to be more about the money in this novelty circus fight. He won’t lose any sleep if beaten because he has a built-in excuse. He’s moving up two weight classes at 38.

The money is what it’s all about with him. If he believed he could really do it, he’d have moved up to 168 already and fought the best fighter in the division as a tune-up. He wants no part of a tune-up. That unmasks what his focus is for this fight—the money.