Canelo Alvarez pushes for rematch with Terence Crawford after battling cramps in first fight

Despite Terence Crawford’s retirement, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is chasing a rematch of their September bout, which Crawford won by clear unanimous decision.

Crawford (42-0, 31 KO) spent the majority of his career at welterweight and lighter before taking just one fight at junior middleweight and then jumping all the way to super middleweight to face Alvarez. While many felt the move was too big for Crawford, he dominated much of the action, thoroughly outboxing Alvarez to become undisputed super middleweight champion.

Crawford was previously undisputed at welterweight and junior welterweight and also held the WBO lightweight championship.

Despite the way the fight with Crawford played out, Alvarez saying the fight would have been different if he could have followed his corner’s advice during the bout, claiming leg cramps were the deciding factor.

“I tried but my body didn’t respond,” Alvarez told Rick Reeno on the Mr. Verzace Podcast. “I had cramps in my legs, so it didn’t respond the way I wanted. It is what it is, so we learn from that and move forward, but I know what mistakes I made in the fight and in the camp, too. But that’s what boxing is about. I think a winner doesn’t mean you need to win every time. You need to learn from everything, from the losses, you take the losses and learn from that and still do the things you love.”

Crawford decided to retire after the win over Alvarez, claiming that he had nothing left to prove. Crawford also said that 38 is old in the boxing game and that it was time to walk away.

During Alvarez’s podcast appearance, he claimed that Crawford owes him a rematch or he should not get credit for his victory.

“I always give him all his credit, but we need to run it back,” Alvarez said. “After the fight, I said we need to run this fight back because I didn’t really feel the way I want. I need to make this fight happen again, and it’s going to be different. I think for him to deserve all the credit, he needs to give me the rematch.”