Crawford: ‘I’m the No.1 fighter of the year, regardless if Lomachenko beats Rigondeaux’

By Boxing News - 12/08/2017 - Comments

Image: Crawford: ‘I’m the No.1 fighter of the year, regardless if Lomachenko beats Rigondeaux'

By Jeff Aranow: Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) says he deserves to be the Fighter of the Year for 2017. Crawford says it doesn’t matter if Vasyl Lomachenko beats Guillermo Rigondeaux or not. He still deserves to be the top Fighter of the Year.

It’s questionable whether Crawford deserves the Fighter of the Year for him unifying the light welterweight division, which is viewed as a WEAK weight class by many boxing fans. Being given the honor of Fighter of the Year for 2017 should be based on the level of victories during the year rather than for unifying a division.

Crawford accomplished a lot this year, but I don’t think either of his 2 wins were big enough to give him the Fighter of the Year. Lomachenko-Rigondeaux is a tremendous fight. If those guys fought no one else in the entire year, I would still rate the winner of the fight the Fighter of the Year, considering how huge of a fight it is.

”I’m fighter of the Year, whether or not Vasyl Lomachenko beats Rigondeaux,” said Crawford to Dan Rafael.

Tim Bradley believes Crawford should be No.1, but he doesn’t have a vote in who gets picked for the Fighter of the Year.

Just based on Crawford’s wins in 2017, I don’t think he can make a case for him being the No.1 Fighter of the Year for 2017.

Crawford beat these guys so far in 2017:

• Felix Diaz

• Julius Indongo

Lomachenko has beaten these fighters in 2017:

• Jason Sosa

• Miguel Marriaga

Rigondeaux has fought only once in 2017 in defeating this fighter:

• Moises Flores

If Rigondeaux can defeat Lomachenko, you have to rate him above what Crawford did in 2017 in beating Felix Diaz and Julius Indongo. For me, I would pick Rigondeaux over Crawford as the Fighter of the Year for 2017 if he beats Lomachenko. The winner of the Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux fight deserves the Fighter of the Year, period.

Crawford’s win over Indongo gave him the IBF and WBA light welterweight titles. However, Indongo is not a super talented fighter, and he was viewed as a star in the eyes of the boxing public. Until recently, the 34-year-old Indongo was an obscure guy that was toiling away without being noticed. Indongo raised his status last December in beating IBF 140 lb. champion Eduard Troyanovsky by a 1st round knockout. Indongo followed that win with a 12 round unanimous decision victory over WBA 140 lb. champion Ricky Burns on April 15.

Crawford will be in a good position next year to be Fighter of the Year for 2018, as he’s facing Jeff Horn in March or April for his WBO welterweight belt. If Crawford wins that fight, he could face Manny Pacquiao in his first defense. A victory for Crawford over Pacquiao would have him with 2 excellent victories in 2018. Those 2 wins would put Crawford in a strong position to take the Fighter of the Year award.

Crawford needs to face better fighters if he wants to win Fighter of the Year awards.

My personal Fighter of the Year for 2017 comes down to these 4 fighters:

1. Vasyl Lomachenko

2. Anthony Joshua

3. Terence Crawford

4. Mikey Garcia