The original encounter between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali in 1971 was billed as The Fight of the Century.

This millennium’s Fight of the Century was between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in 2015. But that bout is remembered more for its financial success than fistic fireworks.

When Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez square off on September 13, the super fight between the future first-ballot Hall of Famers will grab global attention from fans far and wide.

Crawford believes the clash can come close to breaking some of the records Mayweather and Pacquiao set, which included a $72,198,500 gate, 4.6 million pay-per-view purchases, and more than $600 million in total revenue.

"I feel if it catches fire, gets the support of the fans – it could definitely do the big numbers required to surpass the great Mayweather-Pacquiao fight,” Crawford told Fox Sports Australia. "It just depends on how many people want to steal it with piracy."

Crawford (41-0, 31, KOs) is stepping up two weight classes to challenge the undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) as he seeks titles in a fifth division.

Richard Schaefer, the former Golden Boy Promotions CEO, is currently serving in an advisory and business manager role for Alvarez. Schaefer concurred with Crawford’s statements in an interview with The Ring that they can come close to breaking some records.

"I've been involved in boxing since 2000 so that is 25 years and I don't remember any fight bigger than Canelo-Crawford. It's going to be the biggest fight in the sport for as long as I can remember," said Schaefer.

"With Mayweather-Pacquiao, people hyped it up. It was a big success financially, but I think this can be equally as big of a success in that regard if not bigger.

"Canelo-Crawford is a fight between two men truly in their prime. It's going to be a fascinating match, the biggest fight in modern history. I was fortunate enough to promote Mayweather-Canelo back in the day.

"This will be substantially bigger."