Terence Crawford’s comment about his victory over Canelo Alvarez earning him a top-three spot within the all-time pound-for-pound list has fans debating this subject, and lots of of them imagine he’s completely ignorant in regards to the sport’s history.
(Credit: Zach Delgado/Matchroom)
Historical Naivety
They feel Crawford doesn’t know in regards to the past greats, so he naively thinks a victory over Canelo alone is sufficient to place him ahead of fighters who did far more of their careers. The greats of the past didn’t just have two good names on their resumes, as Crawford does.
That they had records stuffed with formidable talent. You possibly can’t blame Terence for not knowing in regards to the past great fighters. Crawford isn’t the one lively fighter who’s unaware of the history of the game.
In an interview with Manouk Akopyan, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) identified that he’ll be moving up essentially three weight classes when he challenges Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) for what he predicts can be the undisputed super middleweight championship on September thirteenth.
It might be impressive if Crawford were to beat Canelo to develop into a three-division undisputed champion. Still, it will be difficult to position him highly because of his limited resume.
In comparison with fighters of the past, who fought excellent opposition throughout their careers, Terence’s record is sort of entirely barren of elite opposition. He has a win over Errol Spence, but not much else on his resume would suggest that he belongs in the highest 3 or the highest 50 pound-for-pound of all time.
Top Pound-for-pound Fighters from the Past
Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Oscar De La Hoya
Roberto Durán
Henry Armstrong
Willie Pep
Pernell Whitaker
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Manny Pacquiao
Roy Jones Jr.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Julio César Chávez
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Ezzard Charles
Archie Moore
Sandy Saddler
Ricardo López
Carlos Monzón
Bernard Hopkins
That is only a small list of fighters who’ve compiled higher records than Crawford. Even when Terence does a past his best Canelo on September thirteenth, it will be crazy to position him above these fighters.
Delusions or Reality?
It’s okay for a fighter to have faith, but when their appraisal of themselves goes overboard, they arrive across as sad, deluded, and out of touch with reality. Crawford’s inflated sense of his achievements has been there for years now.
So, it’s not only a brand new thing. He’s consistently rated himself at the highest, and nobody paid attention to him until now because he’d never fought significant opposition.
At this point, Alvarez is widely viewed as having lost his ambition and only fighting for money. Crawford is type of in the identical boat. He’s not taking the risks either. He looks like he’s focused on getting the most important payday he can without fighting essentially the most formidable contenders. Canelo is the most important payday for the Nebraska native.
Canelo currently holds three belts, but he’s a favourite to choose up the last remaining belt against IBF 168-lb champion William Scull on May third. Crawford only fought once at 154 after moving up from 147 last August. So, it’s hard to actually call him a junior middleweight because is experience in that weight class is restricted to the one fight against Israil Madrimov.
Crawford didn’t need to take a warm-up at 168 before difficult Canelo for his belts in September, but he could have. It was his selection, and he selected to take a seat and wait.
Last Updated on 03/26/2025
