No one expected Terence Crawford to do what he did last Saturday night in front of 70,482 fans at Allegiant Stadium, standing across from the then-reigning super middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. His victory wasn’t beyond imagination, but sheer dominance seemed unthinkable. Yet, the 37-year-old stepped forward, absorbed Canelo’s best shots, and hit him right back while refusing to back down—earning the respect of the man who had dismissed him in the lead-up to the fight. The scorecards told the story.

The judges scored it 116–112, 115–113, and 115–113, all in Terence Crawford’s favor. When announcer Michael Buffer read out the result, Bud’s dream became reality. He dropped to his knees and broke into tears. Days later, Andre Ward, who was on play-by-play duty, reflected on the moment he believes Canelo Alvarez “conceded” the fight to Crawford, during a conversation with Roy Jones Jr. on the ‘All The Smoke Fight’ podcast.

Canelo Alvarez had realized he had lost

Speaking about the fight, Andre Ward highlighted that the last half of the fight was all Crawford, and that’s the point, the realization had started to wash over Canelo. “I think Canelo started to concede at a certain point. I think that point was around round nine,” Ward said. “That’s the round when Crawford, in the southpaw stance, got in a fighting stance and started to exchange with Canelo and got the better of that exchange. That got the crowd woke.”

The undefeated former champion suggested that even Crawford had become confident that Canelo couldn’t end the fight with one shot. “That got Crawford woke to let him know I can sit here with this dude. I can take the power, and I’m getting the better of it. That was bad for Canelo. That was a bad look. But I think that’s the round, if I’m not mistaken, that he reached out and he conceded once again,” Ward said during his podcast.

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He especially recalled a moment from the fight, which gave him the confidence that Canelo had accepted his loss before the result was even announced. “At the end of the round, his glove went like this. He reached out for Crawford. I don’t think Crawford… didn’t want to touch gloves, or he didn’t see it. He turned his back. I looked over to Max [Kellerman] and I said, ‘Hey, that’s a big sign right there.’ That’s a show of what, Roy? Respect,” Ward concluded.

While Crawford’s profile took off after the win, Canelo, beaten and battered, has been left without a world title for the first time since 2017. However, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has provided a positive update!

Alalshikh provides an update about Canelo after the Terence Crawford loss

His Excellency had signed Canelo Alvarez to a four-fight deal at the beginning of this year, which set him on a collision course with Terence Crawford. After Canelo’s lopsided loss, perhaps feeling guilty, the Saudi Royal provided fresh insights into Canelo’s plans after visiting his home. “I just visited the champ in his place,” Alalshikh shared on social media.

“He will soon start his vacation with his family. He has 2 fights left with [Riyadh Season] in 2026. We offered him to work with us until he quits and retired. I want [to] give a special thank you to [Canelo Alvarez] for the special gift. He gave me the gloves of the fight, and I appreciate it very much,” Alalshikh added.

Although Alvarez, who has two fights left in his contract with Alalshikh, has been linked to a potential fight against David Benavidez for years, Alalshikh has confirmed he won’t be back until 2026. 

From the looks of things, Andre Ward seems to believe that Canelo Alvarez had given up on winning long before the final bell rang. However, was that really the case?