As is often the case heading into a huge fight, the excitement has only risen as the super fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford draws near.

International Boxing Hall of Fame broadcaster Al Bernstein is among those who have shared that emotion with each passing day leading up to Canelo-Crawford for Canelo’s undisputed super middleweight titles on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Netflix.

As the fight has drawn near, Bernstein’s belief that Crawford could pull off the upset has grown, though he still gives Canelo a slight edge.

“When this fight was announced, I thought this is a lot for Crawford to undertake moving this far up [in weight,]” Bernstein told The Ring.

“This happens in almost any sporting event. Once you get closer to it, sometimes people who initially were thought to be underdogs get more of the benefit of the doubt. As time has gone on, it's felt closer to me.

"This is one of those fights where if somebody just said to me, 'Okay, you just have to place a straight bet,' I would say, 'I don't know if I want to spend my money doing that.' I could see either man winning this fight. I lean slightly to Canelo because of the size and the undertaking for Crawford, but I can't say I do it with a lot of conviction for a variety of reasons.”

Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs), a four-division champion and two-time undisputed champion, is coming off a lackluster unanimous decision victory over William Scull on May 3 in Saudi Arabia. The victory over Scull made the Guadalajara native a two-time undisputed champion, marking his sixth straight win since defeat by Dmitry Bivol in May 2022.

Canelo is 11-0 with four knockouts at super middleweight.

Against Crawford, who has mostly become a southpaw at this point in his career, Bernstein believes Canelo’s ability to land his left hook will be key to his success.

“Canelo has a couple of weapons that are exceptionally good against lefties,” Bernstein said. “He has a really good double left hook, left hook to the body and left hook to the head. I think in this fight, that is really vital because it'll stop Crawford going to his right. People always talk about the straight right hand against the lefty, and it is an important weapon, but that's one of the ways you set that right hand up.”

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), who has also won world titles in four divisions and is a two-time undisputed champion, will be making a 14-pound jump to 168-pounds in facing Canelo. In August 2024, Crawford most recently won a close unanimous decision over then-unbeaten champion Israil Madrimov to claim the WBA junior middleweight title.

Before his lone fight in the 154-pound division, the Omaha native went 8-0 with eight knockouts at welterweight en route to becoming the undisputed beltholder in a second weight class.

If Crawford is to emerge victorious, Bernstein thinks being more active than normal will be vital.

“If you're Terence Crawford, it's not like you want to throw 80 punches a round, but you better throw north of 50, and in my opinion, closer to 60,” Bernstein said.

“If you do that [and] if you're controlling the geography of the fight, which he might well do for a number of rounds if he doesn't get hurt by Canelo, and if he can not give a [Jermell] Charlo-like performances where you feel like the power has influenced dramatically what he's done, if he controls the geography and he can throw those amount of punches without being counted from Canelo, he’ll have a chance to win those rounds.”