Terence Crawford says that his victory over Canelo Alvarez was a “slap in the face” of promoters who doubted his ability to do things.
Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) isn’t saying who these promoters were that doubted him because three notable ones, Eddie Hearn, Bob Arum, and Oscar De La Hoya, had all picked him to beat Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) in their fight on September 13 in Las Vegas.
Canelo’s Decline Was Obvious to Everyone
They’d seen what fans had: that Canelo, 35, had shown signs of aging, looked less explosive, hadn’t scored a knockout in four years since 2021, and had struggled against these fighters: William Scull, Edgar Berlanga, Jaime Munguia, John Ryder, Gennadiy Golovkin [trilogy], and Dmitry Bivol.
Crawford, 38, states that he showed them what he can “accomplish” by doing something that had never been done before. He didn’t say what he meant by that, as fighters have won division titles in five weight classes before.
So, his victory over Canelo wasn’t historic in that respect. Other fighters have won world titles in six and eight divisions. The historic thing Crawford did was become a three-division world champion by collecting four belts at 140, 147, and 168.
However, Crawford’s accomplishment is less impressive when one considers the fighters he defeated to win those titles. Winning belts for the sake of doing so only shows that divisions are watered down due to the four sanctioning bodies, which means fewer fighters can be maneuvered into holding world titles.
Crawford’s Legacy Questioned by Matchmaking
- Super middleweight (168): Canelo Alvarez – IBF, WBA, WBC, and WBO
- Welterweight (147): Errol Spence: IBF, WBA, and WBC
- Welterweight (147): Jeff Horn: WBO
- Light welterweight (140): Julius Indongo: IBF and WBA
- Light welterweight (140): Viktor Postol: WBC
- Light welterweight (140): Thomas Dululore: WBO
When you look at who Crawford actually beat to capture his three undisputed championships, it makes it less historic and more about choosing flawed, older, vulnerable, and, in Spence’s case, a broken fighter. It cheapens Crawford’s victories when you put them under the microscope.
Adrien Broner Comparisons Are Hard to Ignore
You can basically say that Terence and Adrien Broner are pretty similar. AB captured world titles in four weight classes, taking advantage of beatable fighters to win belts.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. Everything is up in the air right now. I’m about to say, ‘Look what I’ve accomplished’ or ‘What I’m about to accomplish next.’ I haven’t had time to sit down with my team and talk with them,” said Terence Crawford to All The Smoke about what his plans are for his next fight.
It’s understandable why Crawford is having a tough time trying to figure out what he’s going to do next, because there are no easy outs at 168 if he chooses to defend his undisputed championship. Fighting someone beatable like Hamzah Sheeraz is going to confirm in the minds of fans that Crawford is a calculated fighter, who preys on weakened fighters to win his titles.
If he fans someone good, like Christian Mbilli, Lester Martinez, or Osleys Iglesias, he’ll likely lose, and it’ll show what fans had suspected from the get-go about him. He’d prayed on a washed-up Canelo to win his belts, and would have never been able to capture the titles if he had to earn them by beating the above contenders.
Turki’s Silver Platter Gift at 168
Turki Alalshikh made it possible for Crawford to skip the line by avoiding the contenders at 168 that would have weeded him out. Think of it like the NFL being allowed to skip the regular season, playoffs, and go straight into the Super Bowl to play an over-the-hill team, filled with older players. That’s what Turki did for Crawford. He didn’t earn the opportunity. It was given to him on a silver platter, and it had nothing to do with sports. There should be an asterisk next to it in the record books, stating that Crawford was allowed to skip fighting the contenders at 168 to earn the title fight against Canelo.
“You got to have strong will. It’s up to you to know what’s right and what’s wrong,” said Crawford about Turki Alalshikh wanting him to continue his career.
The only reason Crawford can say no to Turki wanting him to fight this person or that is because he likes him. If he didn’t, his showing strong will by rejecting fights offered to him, like David Benavidez, for example, might leave him with less appealing options.
Why Crawford Won’t Risk Fighting Benavidez
It is telling about Crawford’s self-belief or lack thereof that he’s unwilling to take a risk by fighting Benavidez. What does that tell you about Crawford? It kind of takes away any argument that he belongs among the all-time greats because he’s not a risk-taker.
Robinson and Leonard Wouldn’t Blink
Imagine Turki Alalshikh asking true all-time greats Sugar Ray Robinson or Sugar Ray Leonard if they’d be interested in fighting Benavidez. Would they have said no? Crawford’s refusal to fight Benavidez shows that he doesn’t belong with Robinson and Leonard on Mount Rushmore of boxing in the top four of all time. In my book, I don’t see that as all-time top 50 material. To be among that country club, you have to show courage.
“This is a slap in the face of these promoters that say I can’t do this and I can’t do that,” said Crawford, talking about his win over Canelo.
No, Crawford’s win over Canelo is not a slap in the face to promoters because he didn’t prove anything. All he showed was that he could beat a fighter that he carefully selected. If Crawford wanted to prove something to promoters, why wouldn’t he fight Benavidez? Why didn’t Crawford move up to 168 to face him when he held the WBC super middleweight title? Why did he wait until Canelo held those belts to fight for the titles?
Written by Nation Vegas, a Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2013.