Crawford’s best chance is to fight Canelo the same way Lara did
I think Crawford’s gonna go southpaw as he seems more comfortable there and he’ll be better at slowing the pace down compared to orthodox. It makes sense for him to fight the same way Lara did:
A quick combo of straight punches from the tip of his range, then immediately stepping left or smothering in to avoid potential counters. Spending as little time as possible standing in front of Canelo at mid range.
Lots of circling around the ring, shuffling back and forth along the ropes looking to time Canelo’s footwork and attacks to escape and get back to center ring.
It’s gonna be tough on his legs but I can’t see Crawford having success trying to sit down on punches and force Canelo off his front foot, everybody who fights Canelo that way loses because it plays to Canelo’s strengths. Bivol pulled it off but I don’t Crawford will be big enough to make it work with a high volume probing jab, he’d probably have to step in and pump the jab more and could get countered.
I could see Crawford being more willing to try and counter Canelo if Canelo overextends when trying to attack Crawford’s shuffle along the ropes.
Lara didn’t make many attempts to hold center ring after escaping off the ropes, but Crawford will probably be more willing to put combos together behind his jab if it lands.
TLDR: Crawford’s reach advantage and faster feet makes fighting like Lara an obvious choice for him, but Crawford will probably take a little bit more risk on his offense.