ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A Michigan Wolverines legend and future Pro Football Hall of Famer sat down with Shaquille O’Neal, Dana White, Saul “Canelo” Álvarez, and Terence “Bud” Crawford to discuss their upcoming Las Vegas mega-fight on Sept. 13 during press week.
While sitting on The G.O.A.T.S. Podcast with Ring Magazine, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady spoke with the fighters about preparation and how both men train for such a bout.
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“I was never thinking about the fight. I never in my life was thinking about Crawford because he’s in a lower weight class than me. But that’s the fun part about boxing, as you never know what is going to happen. Now we are here, and I am glad to share the ring with one of the best fighters out there, and I can’t wait. You know he’s he’s a obviously he’s a special fighter. He’s a good fighter, but that’s why there are weight classes, and we’re going to find out in September.”
Canelo Álvarez
White chimed in on the potential mega-fight when Brady asked him how he since this will be his first time promoting the sweet science, saw the sport evolving over time.
“Well, I know I’ve had a lot of criticisms of the sport over the last 30 years. The way that I’m looking at this is I’m going to start building from the ground up.
Looking for young talent, up-and-coming guys putting on fights sort of UFC style from the first fight of the night to the main event, stacking the card, you know, with the best talent possible, changing the live event, changing the production of the show.
You know, Sheikh Turki has a lot of things in the works already over the next 16 to 18 months.
These types of fights with superstars like these guys, but I’m looking at rebuilding the sport.
Literally, this guy is the only guy in the history of the sport that is actually invested in it.
Most of these guys just take. Turki Al-Sheikh, in the last two years, has invested more money in the sport of boxing than every promoter throughout history, so I’m looking at this thing completely different than anybody ever has.”
Dana White
Brady mentioned that sports fans want to see the best competing against the best.
According to Brady, giving a hat tip to White, this formula is how the UFC stages fights.
Brady said Bud and Álvarez are the best in the sport of boxing, which is why so much attention is being brought to the fight during press week.
“You want to see the best and what’s been accomplished and what
Álvarez’s done and what Bud’s done and say, ‘All right, let’s see what happens.’ That’s the excitement of sports. People want to see greatness, and they want to see greatness go against other greatness and see who wins."
Tom Brady
The podcast appeared to have been filmed prior to the Álvarez vs. William Scull fight, which was lackluster.
Álvarez chased Scull for the entirety of the fight as he was running for his life.
Scull ended up losing by unanimous decision, becoming a two-time undisputed super middleweight world champion.
Crawford crawled into the ring and took the hand of Turki Alalshikh, who stepped aside for the champions to have their official faceoff in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During the interview, Crawford and Álvarez got heated again as they discussed each other’s resumes.
“He’s a good fighter, a great fighter,” Álvarez said about Crawford. I always said before I saw him calling me out and wanting to fight, and everything I said before, he’s a good fighter, but if you look at his career, mention one elite fighter that he’s fought."
Bud: “So Viktor Postol wasn’t elite?
Álvarez: “Who? Who is that guy?”
Bud: “So he wasn’t commercialized? He wasn’t great? Ricky Burns wasn’t elite?”
Álvarez: “A 40-year-old champion at that time beat Postal in my gym. I saw that.”
Bud: “So Ricky Burns wasn’t elite?”
Álvarez: “No, Burns wasn’t elite. He’s not elite. There are champion fighters, but then there are elite fighters. Elite fighters are different.”
Bud: “Well, I’m going to fight an elite fighter in September, and then we’re going to find out.”
Álvarez: “Don’t get me wrong, you are a great fighter, and I hope your uncle Turki Al-Sheikh pays you enough money because it’s going to be the last time for sure.”
Bud: “But you know, after fighters fight me, they are never the same. So I just hope your career continues after fighting me.”
| Terence “Bud” Crawford | Saul “Canelo” Álvarez |
|---|---|
| Record: 41-0-0 | Record: 63-2-2 |
| Height: 5′8″ | Height: 5′7″ |
| Reach: 74″ | Reach: 70″ |
| Age: 37 | Age: 34 |
During the first press conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al-Sheikh sat next to Álvarez at his table, which was adorned with numerous illustrious belts that he had won throughout his illustrious career.
Bud was by himself with his trainer, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, when Al-Sheikh said, “I don’t know why they sat me here as I want to be on the side of Crawford,” which got a chuckle from the audience in attendance.
Tempers flared on Sunday, June 22, 2025, during the second press event in New York during the faceoff between Álvarez and Crawford.
As the men met, Bud started walking Álvarez back until Álvarez shoved Crawford off of him, which triggered a frenzy among security and their respective camps.
CANELO SHOVES CRAWFORD DURING THE FACE-OFF 😳#CaneloCrawford live on Netflix l Sept 13th in Las Vegas 🥊 pic.twitter.com/X3RoHxgZH4
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 22, 2025
Brady talked about training camp and how the fighters planned ahead of their mega-fight. He wanted to know when the rigorous training would begin.
“Right now, I’m not training hard, I’m not even training, really. I don’t want to overtrain because me, personally, when I go in the gym, I give my all, and I don’t want to burn myself out.
I want to save it all for the fight, you know, so I’m just chilling, doing a little strength work here and there, but other than that, you know my training hasn’t even started.”
Terence Crawford
Álvarez was gearing up for Scull at the time of the interview, so he was already in fight mode.
“Training for six months as I have a fight in May, and then after that, I’m going to maybe rest for a week and then start training again for September.
I’m focused on what I’m doing right now. Obviously, I’m focused 100% on May because I need to take care of that fight first until the September fight, and then I need to take care of that fight. I’m training and focusing on my path.
Canelo Álvarez
With the fight being labeled as potentially the greatest in boxing history, Brady, who is widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time, described what being a G.O.A.T. really means.
“I think when you think about that, there’s an aura to different people that when they perform what they’re doing, whether it’s boxing or, basketball, or football or you know when you when you step to the table then everyone’s worried and whenever you’ve got the ball in your hands or whenever you’ve got the big moment happening, they all know what’s going to happen too.
And I think when you think about certain people, you go ‘Yep, that’s the person I want in that’ and everyone to think at this level is it’s you’re talking about small margins of who’s a little bit better here or there, but there’s certain groups of people that stand above everybody else.
Tom Brady
The third and final press conference is scheduled for Friday, June 30, 2025, in Las Vegas, which just so happens to be where the former Michigan Wolverines quarterback owns shares of the Raiders.
“I’ve been a fan of boxing for a long time and a big fan of Dana, a big fan of Shaq, and obviously Canelo and Bud.
What they’ve done in their career, and I think from someone who’s been involved in big events, there’s nothing better than having the best meet the best, and then when you see these two guys how they performed over the course of their entire career, and it’s always about what the next challenge is.
You know, they don’t look back and think this is what I accomplished in the past; they’re thinking of what is ahead, and that, to me, is what’s most exciting about this event, and it’s going to be in Raiders Stadium, the greatest stadium in the United States.
We’re going to see two of the greatest fighters in boxing history go at it. What more could you ask than that?
Tom Brady
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