Talk to Frank
Heavyweight Jermaine Franklin has beaten Ivan Dychko in an absolute stink fest.
Franklin – who lost to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte in the past – won on the big stage but failed to inspire.
It might be another long wait for the phone to call again.
Jermaine Franklin wins
Meanwhile on the undercard, Jermaine Franklin has won via unanimous decision against Ivan Dychko.
It was far from a classic with fans inside the Allegiant Stadium booing amid their boredom,
The judges scored it 96-93. 95-94. 97-92.
It wasn’t just the fans wanting more, so did Franklin’s coach, who was heard saying between rounds: “If you want this fight, you gotta go in there, you gotta let your hands go, and you gotta work.
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for you. You got to cash in on this, Jermaine.
“We got to get in there, we gotta work, man. We can’t be bulls*******g.”
Tip the scales
Canelo Alvarez is the bigger man but both he and Terence Crawford weighed in at 167.5lb on Friday’s weigh-in – 0.5lb inside the limit.
Crawford, who is a previous undisputed champ at super-lightweight and welterweight, has climbed two divisions for this bout.
Bud had tipped the scales to just 135lb in the past.
There is no rehydration clause, potentially allowing for the naturally bigger Mexican fighter to spend his prep time bulking up.
Injury fears
Rumours have swirled in the build-up to tonight that Terence Crawford has a shoulder issues.
He hilariously responded when asked it, saying: “Yeah, my shoulder’s messed up everyone. Don’t tell Canelo!
“Maybe the left, maybe the right, maybe both of them. I’m having problems with my shoulders.
“Shhh, keep that under wraps.”
Tonight’s full card
Here is what we have coming up as we build up to the main fight of the night.
We will keep you updated with all the results as they come in.
- Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford (undisputed super-middleweight titles)
- Callum Walsh vs Fernando Vargas Jr (super-welterweight)
- Christian Mbilli vs Lester Martinez (super-middleweight)
- Mohammed Alakel vs John Ornelas (lightweight)
- Serhii Bohacuk vs Brandon Adams (middleweight)
- Ivan Dychko vs Jermaine Franklin (heavyweight)
- Reito Tsutsumi beats Javier Martinez (TKO – super-featherweight)
- Sultan Almohammed beats Martin Caraballo (UD – super-lightweight)
- Raiko Santana beats Steven Nelson (TKO – light-heavyweight)
- Marco Verde beats Marcos Osorio Betancourt (TKO – super-middleweight)
Predictions
This bout splits opinion. But everyone is in agreement that it is going to be a classic.
British icon Amir Khan reckons Crawford will win, saying: “It’s a fantastic fight but I just can’t see Canelo beating him.
“I see Crawford winning this fight by skill, movement and holding his weight well.
“Crawford is an amazing wrestler so when it comes to grappling and pushing fighters’ around, he’s strong.
“I’m sure he won’t have a problem with Canelo, even though Canelo is a strong, big guy.”
But promoter Frank Warren is on team Canelo, adding: “My old adage is that a good big ‘un always beats a good little ‘un and I’ll go with Canelo on this.
“Against William Scull, he got clipped quite a few times and I thought he got frustrated.
“Then I look at Crawford in his previous fight against Israil Madrimov and I thought there were moments where it was quite close.
“But I’ve got to go with Canelo – and I hope it is Canelo because our man Hamzah Sheeraz is going to be ringside and we’re going to make it if Canelo wins.”