But his fans were, and Terence Crawford discovered that the loud way.
At Grand Arrivals for the two fighters, Crawford was greeted by loud boos on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel — early evidence Crawford will be treated like the villain when he and Alvarez fight on Saturday Sept. 13.
As the boos continued, Crawford smiled.
“This ain’t nothing different than when I went to Scotland and fought Ricky Burns,’’ he told boxing analyst Max Kellerman during the livestreamed event.
Crawford was referring to 2014, when he traveled to Scotland to fight Scottish boxer Ricky Burns for the WBO world lightweight title. At the time, Crawford said he would silence the crowd on fight night. He did just that, beating Burns by unanimous decision and winning his first world title.
So for Crawford, who’s from Omaha, Nebraska, Las Vegas suddenly feels a little like Scotland.
Not for Alvarez.
The Mexican star is about 1,500 miles from his birthplace of Guadalajara, and once again his fans are expected to flock, this time to watch him defend his undisputed super middleweight championship. The bout will take place at Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and be livestreamed by Netflix three days before Mexican Independence Day.
“They’re all going to be quiet come Saturday,’’ Crawford told Kellerman, and he later remarked, “I’ve been booed before. Hey, listen, they can’t fight for him, so it don’t matter.’’
Alvarez arrived about an hour later and there was no need to talk about boos.
In Spanish Alvarez told his backers, “I’m super grateful for all the support that you always provided to me.’’