- American Crawford moves to 42-0 with unanimous decision win over boxing’s cash cow.
- He became the 6th man ever to win world titles in five divisions.
When Terence “Bud” Crawford stepped into the ring to face Canelo, he carried the weight of criticism from fans and even from Canelo himself, who claimed Crawford had faced no elite competition, saying, “You have beaten nobody.” After the fight, Canelo can no longer make that claim.
Not only did Crawford join an elite list of fighters who have become five-division world champions, but he also became just the second man in boxing history to be undisputed after Henry Armstrong in 1938. He is the first to accomplish this feat in the four-belt era (WBO, WBC, WBA, IBF).
The argument that Crawford had not faced elite opponents compared to previous greats has some merit. When he became undisputed at 140 pounds, his opposition lacked marquee names (Postol, Indongo, Lundy)—fighters recognizable only to hardcore boxing fans. At 147 pounds, when he captured the welterweight crown by dismantling Manny Pacquiao’s conqueror Jeff Horn, he was frozen out by PBC promotions, who kept the other belts in-house by matching their fighters against each other instead of against Crawford. Finally, in July 2023, he got his opportunity against PBC’s golden boy, Errol Spence, and made the most of it. Crawford dominated Spence so thoroughly that the referee stopped the fight in the ninth round.
Overcoming adversity is nothing new for the man from Nebraska. He has battled the politics of boxing’s biggest promoters freezing him out, moved up to 168 pounds to face a man many believed was too big for him in Canelo, and overcome challenges outside the ring that would have broken most people.
His mother, known for her tough-love parenting style, never praised him. Instead, she gave him constant whippings and even offered $10 to any neighborhood kid who could beat him in a fight. No kid ever claimed the money, it’s safe to say. At 23 years old, Crawford was shot in the head but still drove himself to the hospital. Where most people would have been traumatized, Crawford’s only concern was whether he could still make his next fight.
Boxing is a unique sport to judge from a historical perspective. It is far harder to push a fighter into the “Greatest of All Time” conversation compared to other sports. The names often cited include Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard. Even when the best of a past generation, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, declared himself the greatest ever, many pushed back.
Terence Crawford deserves to be in that conversation. He is not only undefeated, but his dominance is such that not a single judge has ever scored a fight against him in his career.
Now, with his 38th birthday approaching and talk of retirement swirling, we may soon be witnessing the end of a legendary career. What a way it would be to bow out—on a worldwide stage via Netflix—having overcome adversity time and again, both inside and outside the ring.
I, for one, feel blessed and privileged to have witnessed it.
