This much is clear after Terence Crawford's victory over Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez on Saturday night at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, it's not if 'Bud' is an all-time great, but just how high on the list is he?
Some of you may think that's a hyperbolic statement but hear me out. Crawford is now a three-time undisputed champion, having captured all the belts at 140, 147 and now most remarkably at 168. This in addition to having won belts as a lightweight, and then junior middleweight.
He is now 42-0 (31 KOs) and has never come close to losing a bout.
Ring graphic ***)
In an era where you have multi-division champions (Adrien Broner and Rollie Romero come to mind) who have never even tried to partially unify, or ever really be considered the best in any particular weight class, this is a guy who can state that he was the man in three separate weight classes. There was nothing 'paper' about any of his championships. No belt was ever emailed to him.
Coming into this contest it was believed that for all his skills, Crawford was simply too small to dent the armor of the naturally bigger Alvarez, who has been fighting at super middleweight (and beyond) since 2018, with only Dmitry Bivol defeating him as a light heavyweight. Last summer in capturing the WBA 154 pound title, Crawford didn't exactly dominate Israil Madrimov over 12 rounds.
Not only would he move up, but he would completely skip over the middleweight division -- a difference of 14 pounds. To put this into further perspective, he would be facing the undisputed super middleweight champion just two fights from his 2023 bout against Errol Spence for the undisputed welterweight title. h
Forget Michael Jordan, this is truly the 'Jumpman'.
Adidas
Conventional wisdom said that Alvarez would simply be too big and strong for the ambitious Crawford. The old adage about a good big man beating a good small men being a phrase you heard often the past several months. As expected, Crawford's movement and quick right jab troubled Alvarez early. Canelo would methodically move forward and sporadically shoot a power punch in his direction. But for the most part, the tempo was being controlled by Crawford.
Yet, this was to be expected, what would happen in the middle and late stages of the bout with the extra bulk carried by the challenger (who weighed in at a career-high 167.5 pounds). Well, a funny thing happened, not only did Crawford not get over-powered, in the late rounds he was more than willing to stay inside the pocket and exchange with the Mexican star. Crawford more than held his own, in fact, he got the better off it with his quick and fluid trigger pull.
It was Crawford who finished this fight with a flourish in the championship rounds. And it turns out he needed to because the likes of Max De Luca and Tim Cheatem had the fight dead even after 10 heats. Eventually their scorecards read 115-113 for Crawford, while Steve Weisfeld had it 116-112. The consensus online is that Crawford won no less than eight rounds, perhaps even nine or ten. My personally tally read 116-112 for Crawford.
Regardless, there was no justification for an Alvarez win, or even a draw. Crawford was clearly the winner, here.
For years, Crawford was a respected -- if not beloved -- professional, who has been considered elite for years, but never could breakthrough into the mainstream. Perhaps boxers from Omaha are a tough sell, but what really hindered him was that in a highly politicized boxing climate, Crawford was perpetually stuck on 'the wrong side of the street'. This was really his toughest foe. Also, in an era when boxing is less mainstream than ever, a no-frills guy like Crawford can easily be overlooked and ignored.
But no more. Like a Marvin Hagler at the end of his career, the plaudits should be forthcoming. Keep this in mind, this bout wasn't pay-per-view but on Netflix. Chances are that Crawford played to the biggest audience of his career worldwide, in addition to the over 70K in attendance. He took down the biggest star in the sport, while elevating his own profile.
@lunatoonboxing
He didn't always get our adulation, but Crawford has certainly earned everyone's everlasting respect.
In an age of sizzle, he's an Omaha steak.
