Terence Crawford dethroned Canelo Alvarez in September 2025 via unanimous decision.
Canelo has now lost three times in his career, coming up short against only elite fighters; Floyd Mayweather, Dmitry Bivol and Crawford. The four-division world champion from Mexico has never been stopped or even knocked down during his 68-fight career.
Against Crawford, Canelo suffered his first super-middleweight defeat, despite Crawford moving up significantly for the opportunity to claim Alvarez’s undisputed crown and become the first three-weight undisputed champion since Henry Armstrong in 1938. It was a comprehensive win, but, again, Alvarez did not look hurt, despite the 31 KOs on ‘Bud’s ledger.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Crawford – who retired months after that final victory – explained that he believes he was unable to halt the Mexican icon inside the distance because of his ‘ginger’ genetics.
“They say that red-heads are hard to knock out. It’s proven, I googled it, what are they called? Gingers. I promise you.
“Yes, [they have a higher pain tolerance], I looked it up because my cousin, she is a nurse and she said, ‘yeah, them gingers, they are hard to put to sleep, even when you give them the anaesthetics to go to sleep’.”
“When she told me that, I was like ‘Damn! That is why Canelo can take so many good shots’.”
Research shows that natural redheads often require about 20% more general anaesthesia to stay sedated and may show resistance to local anaesthetics. How that translates in the ring is less researched.
Alvarez will looking to show his resilience again when he attempts to regain the WBC super-middleweight world title on September 12 in Riyadh, where he will challenge newly crowned champion, Christian Mbilli.
