Chael Sonnen issues bold preview of Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford fight, addresses "old idea about size"

As the highly anticipated Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford showdown draws near, the combat sports community waits intently to find out who'll walk away with the undisputed super middleweight gold. UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen, for one, has a hot take.

The biggest concern among the fandom has been how 'Bud' would handle the size discrepancy. Crawford has fought no higher than 154 pounds, while Alvarez, the reigning super-middleweight champion, has gone as high as light heavyweight.

Speaking to Daniel Cormier during a recent segment of the Good Guy/Bad Guy podcast, Sonnen argued that Alvarez had no margin for error this time around, suggesting his rise as the face of boxing was largely fueled by fan sentiment:

"Canelo is in a situation where there's really no room for error... He, at 21 years old, was given an opportunity... he was in there with a 35-year-old Floyd Mayweather, and he got taken apart... [But] The people decided that they love him... Somebody in every era gets chosen to be the face of boxing... He wasn't the best at his age group, he wasn't the best in the juniors, the Cadets, [or] any of the divisions, but he did get chosen... But 'Bud' Crawford is the better fighter, and Canelo is a better boxer... I'm leaning towards Crawford."

Furthermore, the size discrepancy narrative doesn't trouble Sonnen. He argues:

"I'm not buying this whole thing that there's a weight difference. I'm really not. [Oleksandar] Usyk was greatly outweighed by [Tyson] Fury just a moment ago. Mayweather was greatly outweighed by [Conor] McGregor… This old idea about size and its helpful, historically, is simply not true. Muhammad Ali was 198 pounds in his prime. Mike Tyson never had a reach or a weight advantage over one single opponent."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments on Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford (30:32):

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Terence Crawford dismantles the size discrepancy narrative in the lead-up to Canelo Alvarez clash

Safe to say Terence Crawford doesn't subscribe to the age-old combat sports adage 'A good big man always beats the good little man.' 'Bud' believes the sweet science has time and again disproved this notion.

Talking to Ring Magazine's Max Kellerman ahead of the Canelo Alvarez fight, the former two-weight undisputed world champion rubbished claims that he'd suffer from being undersized come fight night:

"They don't know what they are talking about. When you look at the history of boxing, more little men moved up in weight to beat the bigger man... When you talk about Floyd Mayweather, when you talk about [Oscar] De La Hoya, when you talk about [Manny] Pacquiao, when you talk about 'Sugar Ray' Leonard, when you talk about Roberto Durant, when you talk about Canelo Alvarez, when you talk about Terence Crawford, when you talk about Shakur Stevenson, I can name fighters for days that was smaller, that moved up in weight, consistently and was successful."