Canelo vs. Crawford: Will this be one of the biggest fights in Las Vegas history?

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Even in a city known for staging some of boxing's greatest fights, the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford match stands nearly alone.

It will be the first fight at 5-year-old Allegiant Stadium, the Saturday night showdown underscoring the magnitude of an event that will have implications for both boxers trying to further strengthen their Hall of Fame-worthy careers.

Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 knockouts), as is typically the case when the Mexican great fights in his boxing home of Las Vegas, will have the vast majority of the crowd behind him as he defends his unified super middleweight championship. The 35-year-old is a -175 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.

“This fight for me is big," Alvarez said. “It's one of the biggest fights of my career for sure.”

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is moving up two weight classes, and the 37-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska, already has captured two unified division titles. No male fighter has accomplished that feat in three classes.

“This is a massive fight,” Crawford said. “It's talked about all over the world right now.”

It's certainly a talking point in Las Vegas.

The city known as the “Fight Capital of the World” is used to hosting big-time matches, but there was no stadium like Allegiant to house some of the great bouts of the past.

Resorts such as Caesars Palace's outdoor arena, The Mirage and Las Vegas Hilton hosted some of the more notable fights in 1980s and 1990s before giving way to MGM Grand Garden Arena and then T-Mobile Arena.

Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010, has booked many of those matches, but he's not involved with this one. UFC CEO and President Dana White and Riyadh Season are promoting this card.

“I think it's right up there with the great fights in Las Vegas history,” Trampler said. “You've got two champions fighting. There's a lot of storylines — Crawford moving up in weight, Canelo hoping to cement his legacy. But beyond all that, on paper it's a tremendous matchup. It's two contrasting styles, two contrasting fan bases. It's got all the ingredients.”

Kevin Iole, who covered combat sports for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and then Yahoo! Sports, noted many other major fights in this city included star power in both corners.

Muhammad Ali fought Larry Holmes in 1980, Marvelous Marvin Hagler took on Thomas Hearns in 1985, Sugar Ray Leonard met Roberto Duran in 1989 and Mike Tyson faced Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997. More recently, Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

“Crawford doesn't reach the level of stardom,” Iole said. “He will if he wins, but going into this fight, he's not as big as a Sugar Ray Leonard was. Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, even an Oscar De La Hoya, those guys were just bigger names. So when they had their biggest fights here, those guys were bigger because of their names.”

Alvarez is unquestionably the bigger draw, a point Crawford has conceded.

But even Alvarez finds himself fighting in a different era and in a different atmosphere than many previous champions.

“Yes, Canelo is the biggest star in boxing today, but boxing isn't the same sport that it was in the 1980s,” Iole said. “So I think that mitigates it a little bit, but I would say without question, that this is one of the biggest fights in Las Vegas history.”

That is certainly true going into to the fight.

But the ultimate test is what happens in the ring. It could be a night that will be forgotten quickly or it could go down in history.

“There's a reason there's going to be 50,000 or 60,000 people there," Trampler said. “That's because everyone wants to see it. It's going to be quite the event, the biggest one of the year in Las Vegas for sure.”

Canelo vs. Benavidez?

Alvarez has been asked many times in recent years whether he would fight WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez.

He was asked again at Thursday's news conference.

“I never say no to anything," Alvarez said. "We'll see later, but I'm 100% focused on this fight.”

Neflix and not PPV

Those with a Netflix subscription can watch this fight rather than shell out $90 or $100 on pay-per-view, which could be more of the norm going forward.

This is White's first foray into boxing and he doesn't plan to make it his last. The UFC reached a seven-year deal with Paramount last month, going away from the PPV model and making its numbered cards available to those who subscribe to Paramount+.

Other fights of note

Callum Walsh (14-0, 11 KOs) of Ireland meets Fernando Vargas Jr. (17-0, 15 KOs) of Las Vegas in the co-main event. Vargas Senior was a IBF, IBA and WBC super welterweight champion.

WBC interim super middleweight Christian Mbilli (29-0, 24 KOs) of France defends his belts against Lester Martinez (19-0, 16 KOs) of Guatemala.