Olympic Boxer Omari Jones Predicts Terence Crawford Will Beat Canelo Alvarez

Olympic boxer Omari Jones is taking the underdog in the Terence Crawford vs. Canelo Alvarez matchup ... telling TMZ Sports he's predicting Bud will pull off the upset.

Crawford (41-0) and Alvarez (63-2) will throw hands on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas ... and even though Terence is moving up several weight divisions to meet Canelo at 168 pounds, Jones still likes the boxing star's chances.

"It looks like he put it on the right way," Jones said of Crawford's weight gain. "The nutrition, the training -- Crawford, he trains hard."

"It's gonna be a little bit different for Canelo this time around because Crawford took the moving up weight class seriously."

Jones also loves the fire Crawford's shown ... telling us Bud's "competitiveness is always gonna put him over the edge."

Jones, 22, knows a thing about battling in the ring. The Olympian -- who won bronze in Paris -- turned pro in March and remains undefeated after winning all three of his first fights by knockout.

He's also nice in billiards ... and will attend the Florida Open Pool Championship in his hometown of Orlando, where he'll meet fans and hit the tables.

Jones said if he pursued a career in pool, he'd be a beast at it, especially with his boxing background.

"It's a fun game," Jones said. "I think I'll have fun with it. I think I'll lock in on it like anything else."