Terence Crawford understood he was chasing immortality when he stepped into the ring to face Canelo Alvarez. His opponent, the 35-year-old Alvarez, a native of Mexico, who is considered an all-time great and many contend is the best his country has ever produced, wasn’t Crawford’s most daunting adversary. At 37 (he turned 38 on September 28, two weeks after the match), Crawford was battling a more formidable foe –– legacy.
The Omaha, Nebraska-born and bred Crawford has held 18 separate major world championships in five weight classes and is the second male ever to be an undisputed world champion in three weight classes in the four-belt era. But an argument can be made as to whether he is the best of his generation, and in conversations as to being equal to or better than immortals such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, and his contemporary Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Thus, moving up in weight classes, two divisions and 14 pounds to be exact, and by defeating Alvarez (39-3-2) by a 115-113, 116-112, and 115-113 unanimous decision on September 15, in front of 70,482 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the conversation of placing him with those legends is appropriate. With the win, Crawford’s resume now reads undisputed champion in the junior welterweight, welterweight, and super middleweight divisions and five-division strap holder composed of the lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, light middleweight, and super middleweight classes.
Given this historic achievement, where does Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) rank amongst the recent greats?
In evaluating his legacy, it’s essential to note that Crawford’s two biggest fights have occurred in the last 26 months, with his win over Alvarez and his destruction of then-undefeated champion Errol Spence Jr. in late July 2023. Crawford has experienced a career similar to that of the undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, who was a long-time cruiserweight title holder before moving up to heavyweight, taking higher-profile fights in 2021, and twice defeating both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
A combination of his promoters’ inability to close the deal on huge fights and opponents’ fear of a clash with Crawford left him out of megafights that others secured throughout their careers. Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) was with promoter Top Rank at the same time as Crawford, but left and fought welterweights Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman in 2019 instead of Crawford. The latter won his first welterweight title in June 2018 when he defeated Jeff Horn, who upset Pacquiao in July 2017. It would appear that the Filipino icon ducked, Crawford.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0, 27 KOs), regarded by many as the best boxer of this century, is an obvious comparison to Crawford. The biggest difference in the profiles of the two is that Mayweather fought the best of his era, including Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, a young Alvarez, and Pacquiao. His fight with Pacquiao in 2015 was the highest-grossing combat sports event of all time (over $600 million).
After their fight, both Crawford and Alvarez were asked about comparisons to Mayweather. “ I think Crawford is way better than Floyd Mayweather, ” Álvarez (62-3-2, 39 KOs) said at the post-fight news conference.
“Listen, Floyd was the greatest of his era, I’m the greatest of my era, ain’t no need to compare me to Floyd or Floyd to me,” Crawford said at the post-fight press conference.
Sports, in general, and boxing, in particular, are about comparing greats from different eras and debating which boxer would win, such as Muhammad Ali versus Mike Tyson. After convincingly defeating Alvarez, we will compare and debate the preeminence for many years.
Jaron Ennis (34-0 30 KOs), who trained and sparred with Alvarez in preparation for his clash with Crawford, will make his super-welterweight debut next Saturday, October 11, versus Angolan Uisma Lima (14-1 10 KOs) at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.