Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: “Chuck and Tito,” which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
Terence Crawford moves up in weight to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight title on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (Netflix, 9 p.m. ET).
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is a four-division world champion and has fought most of his career between 135 and 147 pounds. He moved up one weight class to 154 in August 2024 and defeated Israil Madrimov to win the WBA junior middleweight title.
“Bud” Crawford has achieved undisputed status in two divisions — something that has been accomplished by only two other men’s fighters in the four-belt era (Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue). A win against Canelo will make Crawford the only men’s fighter to be undisputed in three weight classes (Claressa Shields has done it in women’s boxing).
Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) is also a four-division champion. His only two losses were against Floyd Mayweather in 2013 and to Dmitry Bivol in 2022 when Canelo moved up to light heavyweight to challenge for a world title.
Canelo vs. Crawford is one of the most anticipated fights in recent years and the winner could arguably be the best fighter in the world.
Andreas Hale and Brett Okamoto are in Las Vegas to bring you all that’s happening, including fight results and round-by-round analysis.
