Canelo Alvarez - Terence Crawford Fight To Have KO Bonus, Could Save Boxing

Let's get it on!

As if boxing fans needed any more reason to watch the upcoming Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford match, it's now been announced that there will be an additional knockout bonus.

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ALVAREZ VS CRAWFORD TO TAKE PLACE SEPTEMBER 13TH IN VEGAS

The surprise announcement came during the kickoff presser in Saudi Arabia on Friday ahead of the September 13th super-middleweight championship between two of boxing's best. "We will not have [Tom & Jerry fights] anymore," Saudi Boxing Federation President Turki Alalshikh told reporters. "We will have in this fight and our next fights a bonus for a KO." 

A "Tom and Jerry fight" is essentially when a boxer chases his opponent around the ring trying to land punches. The tactic has become more common in boxing in recent years and is used by some as a way to more easily walk away with the victory (or at least not get hit as much), even if it is extremely boring and frustrating for the fans in attendance or watching at home. Canelo's last fight was a Tom and Jerry one when both he and opponent William Scull combined for only 445 punches, the fewest in a 12-round fight in 40 years as measured by CompuBox. 

Needless to say, there isn't anyone who wants this fight to be a T&J, and if that comes with an added bonus - a literal bonus - then so be it and let's have that more often! 

KNOCKOUT BONUS BEING PRAISED BY GLOBAL BOXING FANS

With Netflix acquiring the rights to the highly anticipated fight, you can be sure that they are grinning from ear-to-ear with the KO bonus news. The more landed punches, the happier the customer and the more they'll come back - which is something Netflix would love as they continue to pursue a more dominant role in the live sports broadcasting rights realm. 

It's unclear how much the Alvarez - Crawford bonus will be for, but you can be sure that it does give a bit more of an incentive to go at it and not leave their fate to the judge's scorecards. When asked about the KO bonus, Crawford told reporters on Friday that he's ready to pull out all the punches in order to secure the W.

"However I got to fight, I'm going to win," said Crawford on Friday. "I'm not going to let someone else tell me how to fight when I've been doing that my whole life. I won't be running. I can tell you that. But I will be doing a lot of touching."

GIVE ME ALL THE PUNCHES!

"Love this initiative to stop these boring fighters from 'Doing what I needed to to do to win,' BS" one person tweeted. 

"Every fight should have this [to be honest]," another boxing fan wrote on X. 

Both Crawford and Canelo have KO power, leading to even larger grins coming over casual boxing fans' faces, knowing full well that this very well could end up being the best fight in years. The undefeated 41-0 Crawford currently has 31 KOs, while the 62-2-2 Alvarez has 39 KOs. 

Crawford has knocked out 11 of his last 12 opponents and will also be moving up two weight classes from 154 to 168 just to face Alvarez - talk about wanting it! 

Alvarez vs. Crawford will take place on September 13th in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium.