“Michael Conlan Boldly Backs ‘Bud’ to Pull Off the Shock Upset”Stunned by Intense Canelo-Crawford Face-Off
Terence “Bud” Crawford is a +140 underdog at Bet MGM to defeat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Sep. 13, but you would struggle to realize it after hearing the opinions of those involved in the sport.
Crawford seems to be favored by many, at least within the boxing fraternity, to defy logic and dethrone Alvarez of his undisputed super middleweight titles and make history as the first-ever three-weight male undisputed champion of the four-belt era at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
“I’m like [50-50]. I’ll flip-flop if I go too early. But when I watched the face-off and I [saw] Bud step to him and I [saw] Canelo’s face, I leaned towards Bud now,” featherweight contender Michael Conlan told Uncrowned and DAZN’s “Ariel x Ade” show last week. “At the start, I leaned toward Canelo because he’s so big, and [usually] the better big man beats the better smaller man.
“But Bud is just so game and one of the best fighters, pound-for-pound, of our generation, and I like him as a person. He’s a great guy. I think Bud just has the edge now. Canelo is probably starting to kind of go on the slide. Not much — he’s still an unbelievable fighter, one of the best of this generation as well. It’s an interesting fight, but something about that face-off made me go, Bud’s got this.'”
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Conlan’s fellow Irishman, the Dana White-backed prospect Callum Walsh, took over from Conlan as the Irish headlining act for St. Patrick’s Day weekend in New York. Now with Conlan and Katie Taylor heading toward the finish line in their storied careers, Walsh will look to take the next step in becoming the new face of Irish boxing with a win over Fernando Vargas Jr. in the Alvarez vs. Crawford co-feature.
“Callum is a fantastic fighter. [He’s] a great man. He can do big things in boxing,” Conlan said of Walsh. “He’s got the backing of Zuffa Boxing [Dana White]. They’ve been behind him with Tom Loeffler [360 Promotions] from the start, which has been fantastic. He’s probably more well-known in UFC audiences than boxing audiences because he’s been fighting on [UFC] Fight Pass a lot. But I think he’s the real deal. I think he knocks out Vargas. I don’t think Vargas is the best of the brothers, I think Emiliano [is]. I rate that kid so highly, he’s a fantastic fighter. I would say Fernando is second and Amado last.”
While Walsh is touted to be the future, Conlan realizes that his days as the present of Irish boxing are coming to a close. The former WBA title challenger confirmed to Uncrowned that while his Sep. 5 date with Jack Bateson will not be his last appearance in a boxing ring, it is part of his final run in the sport.
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“[My next fight is] definitely not [my] final fight,” Conlan insisted to Uncrowned. “[But] it’s the last roll of the dice. I’ll roll ’em and see how far they go. People say, ‘This is the best training camp I’ve had,’ and all this. I’m not gonna say it’s the best training camp I’ve [ever] had, but it’s the best I’ve been inside and outside the ring mentally and physically, and I’m in a great position.”
“I have no weight on my shoulders, no kind of worries. What will be will be. I’m at peace with that, so there’s no pressure. I can just go in and enjoy myself, and that’s what I plan to do for the rest of this career. I [still] want to get a world title. I’m aiming towards that. I think I can still do it. I believe I can still do it.”
Bateson, whose lone career defeat came to Shabaz Masoud in a November 2022 British title final eliminator, is a long way away from the world level at 126 pounds, but with Conlan having only an eight-round bout in the bank since brutal back-to-back stoppage defeats in 2023, it provides a measuring stick to ascertain what level Conlan is — and can still compete at for the remainder of his career.
