Boxing’s Biggest Curse That Ails Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Gets UFC Legend’s Verdict

2024 was a sensational year for boxing. From record-breaking fights to highest paydays, we had it all. In such a stacked year, it was really tough to decide who the year really belonged to. Canelo Alvarez once again swept the year and won two fights conclusively. Artur Beterbiev became the first ever undisputed light heavyweight champion in the modern era.

However, according to boxing insider ‘ShowBizz The Adult,’ sportswriter Dan Rafael and former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen, the year belonged to none other than Oleksandr Usyk. As the trio was trying to decide their Fighter Of The Year on the Ring Magazine’s podcast, the UFC veteran couldn’t help but draw attention to the biggest curse in boxing that has affected every boxer.

Too much fuss over the pounds

Rafael named Usyk as the fighter of the year without any hesitations but Sonnen had some reservations about it. The 47-year-old mentioned that the Ukranian only fought against one guy twice in 2024. Meanwhile, other fighters had to fight 2-3 different opponents. However, in the end, the former UFC fighter also went with Usyk because the unified heavyweight champion has not been plagued by boxing’s biggest curse, something which had held boxing back a bit against other combat sports in recent times, according to Sonnen.

“Boxing has in my opinion, there is one very fair criticism of it. And I’m a former boxer I had Olympic aspirations in 2000 myself so I feel like it’s okay to speak boxing,” began Sonnen before he launched an attack against the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Devin Haney.

He mentioned how the boxers refuse to take on a good fight because of a minimal weight difference before mentioning the Ryan Garcia-Devin Haney example. “You talk about a couple of pounds and they all of a sudden they don’t want to fight. Who’s this gentleman? He ends up getting beat by Ryan Garcia, who ends up testing hot. That dude is still complaining about the weigh-ins.”

For those who may not know, Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are in one of the most controversial rivalries as the latter tested positive for PED post their fight last year. Even though Garcia is serving a ban and got the win expunged from his record, Haney filed a lawsuit against him. In December, Garcia too filed a countersuit against Haney. However, it seems the two of them may now be working together on a rematch if all goes well. But their enmity still remains as explosive as last year.

On the other hand, according to Sonnen, this inability of boxers to look past some pounds is also stopping the dream fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. “You got Bud Crawford or you got Canelo. These guys are sitting here and talking about why I shouldn’t have to do things that are hard over three pounds,” contended the UFC veteran. However, in Canelo Alvarez’s case, he thinks that the weight difference will make this fight one-sided in his favor. As a result, Canelo feels his potential victory may not get the credit it deserves, which is one of the reasons he has cited for not agreeing to the fight.

We have seen some progression in that fight because of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh now. However, in the past, Canelo has always denied the fight because of the weight disparity. Rising above this issue is the exact reason that Chael Sonnen feels Oleksandr Usyk deserves the title of ‘Fighter Of the Year’.

Oleksandr Usyk over Canelo Alvarez and Devin Haney

According to Sonnen, when other fighters can’t look past even 3-4 lbs, “Usyk gave up 41 pounds.” As Oleksandr Usyk jumped up to heavyweight in 2019, he had to fight opponents much heavier than him. In all of his heavyweight fights since 2019, he has had a massive weight disadvantage. While he has never exceeded 225 lbs, all his opponents have been well over 240 lbs, except Daniel Dubois in 2023. Chazz Witherspoon was 242 lbs, Derek Chisora was 255.5 lbs, Anthony Joshua was 240 lbs. However, the surprising case was his rematch with Tyson Fury where the Gypsy King weighed in at a whopping 281 lbs while Usyk came in at 226 lbs—a massive difference of 55 lbs between them. Yet Usyk still managed to defeat Fury decisively.

Chael Sonnen mentioned that many fighters who have moved up to heavyweights have shown us that weight discrepancy is not as big as an issue it is made out to be. “I think that that attitude has to mean. That’s the one thing I like about the heavyweights I like that they’ve got a discrepancy in weight. I like that the misconception of the bigger guy is the batter guy gets proven wrong. I like that,” explained Sonnen passionately.

He then noted the careers of Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali and how they were always the smallest guys in a fight and yet they still managed to overpower bigger opponents. And now that Oleksandr Usyk is again breaking that misconception, he deserves that Fighter of the Year award. “My fighter of the year is Usyk,” declared the UFC legend.

What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s analysis? Do you think fighters like Canelo Alvarez and Devin Haney make too much fuss over weight discrepancy? Let us know your thoughts down below.