Crawford takes on Canelo at Allegiant Stadium in Sin City in a bout that has been dubbed “The Fight of the Century,” and Stevenson is happy to see the matchup taking place, and confident that his old friend has what it takes to get the job done.
“It feels good. It’s the best versus the best,” he told The Ring.
“It’s Bud Crawford’s moment. I think the world needs to know how great Bud Crawford is, and I think and Saturday night is going to show again why he is one of the best fighters to ever do it.
“I think people just be hating on greatness. When he comes from our culture, I think when somebody is that good, they kinda hate on it then. I think that they need to embrace it a little bit more.”
As a longtime friend and training partner of Crawford, Stevenson said that seeing “Bud” win in Vegas would mean “everything,” and explained how Crawford has had a huge influence on his own boxing career.
“You’ve gotta realise, when I started my career and I started getting known and out there, I was in Colorado Springs with Bud Crawford,” he said.
“I was sitting at his house, day to day, with Bud Crawford. I was going to training camps and training with Bud Crawford, sparring with Bud Crawford. So, an inspiration… he kinda set that mode up.
“I was an amateur coming into the pros, not knowing that the pros were so much different than the amateurs. And once I got around Bud Crawford, it kinda allowed me to elevate my game to also be a professional and not just an amateur. I appreciate that dude, and that dude is a GOAT to me, in my eyes.”
As for the actual fight itself, much has been said of Crawford jumping up two divisions to face Canelo in his optimal weight class. But when the old boxing adage of “A great big man beats a great little man” Stevenson was quick to shoot it down – and had some well-known examples to back up his argument.
“That’s the thing. I feel like that’s just a saying,” he stated.
“There’s plenty of fights in boxing that make you believe and know that’s not true.
“Roberto Duran beat Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto was a natural 135 pounds. Sugar Ray Leonard beat Marvin Hagler and he was the smaller fighter. So in the history of boxing, I think that is kind of a myth.
“Usually when a smaller guy goes up and they are great just as much as the great big man, nine times out of 10 that smaller guy’s gonna have more endurance.”
