LAS VEGAS -- Shortly after moving up in weight and eking out a win in the closest fight of his career, Terence Crawford -- then on the cusp of his 37th birthday -- was insisting on jumping another two divisions to fight the undisputed 168-pound champion, Canelo Alvarez . This was 13 months ago. Crawford was addressing an audience of one: his patron, the Saudi Arabian boxing financier, Turki Alalshikh.

Even by boxing standards -- I use the term advisedly, as boxing has only few and dubious standards -- it seemed a semi-preposterous idea. Alalshikh shot him a look. "But the weight?" he said.

Actually, it was more than just the weight. Both history and common sense favor not merely the naturally bigger man, but the younger one, and the so-called "A side." Paired with Canelo -- boxin

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