Canelo Alvarez recently showed he had an ace up his sleeve by employing Jaron “Boots” Ennis as a sparring partner in preparation for his Sept. 13 championship fight against Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Netflix.

Crawford believes it’s not a big deal that the Mexican superstar, who is the undisputed super middleweight champion, has summoned a highly credible contemporary who many believe is his carbon copy.

“When they showed me, I said, 'So, he's not me,'” Crawford told reporters about Ennis, the undefeated former unified welterweight champion. “As much as a lot of people say we have similarities, he's not me, and I'm not him. He's trying to get to where I'm at. He's got a long way to go.

“[Alvarez is] fighting the best fighter in the world — he better be taking it seriously. That goes to show how serious he's taking me, how much he respects me. Because if I haven't fought anyone, if I was too small, all of these things the media says I am, he wouldn't need these guys to help prepare to fight me. He wouldn't need all of the help that he's been getting. I’m happy that he's getting the help that he needs. After September 13, there won't be any excuses.”

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) also commented on his own training as he prepares to step up two divisions and transform his physique to fight Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs).

“Sparring is nothing different. I've been doing this my whole career. I've always been sparring bigger fighters my whole career,” he said.

“It's always work. Each camp we put in 110 percent. We don't leave any stones unturned. I can't say that this camp is different from any other camp that we've worked in. You can say this is the biggest challenge of my career, but they are all big challenges. When you get on this level, it's about who wants it the most.

“The only thing in this camp that is different from any other camp is that I don't have to cut muscle. I don't have to watch what I do in strength and conditioning. I can go all out and do what I need to do to get stronger.”