There were still better than six rounds to go, but it was over.
Well, if you’re a fancier of body language anyway.
When Terence Crawford emerged from a tough fifth round against Canelo Alvarez—one that a majority at ringside figured he’d lost—by smiling and sticking his tongue out at his Mexican foe while lashing him with combinations to start the sixth, you could tell the uber-confident and hyper-competitive Nebraskan sensed he was on to something.
And the flow state he carried from that point through the back half of the fight ultimately led to another show of emotion, when he dropped to a knee and cried upon hearing that he’d earned a unanimous decision and toppled Alvarez from his 168-pound throne.
It was unlikely given the pre-fight odds and the practical reality that Crawford was fighting beyond 147 pounds for only the second time and past 154 pounds for the first. And he was doing so against a guy who’d not only won all four worthwhile super middleweight belts, but one who’d also never lost in a dozen fights in the weight class dating back to 2017.
Which means what he won that night goes far beyond the hardware he toted from the Allegiant Stadium ring. He’s not only a new king in his fifth weight class, but he’s also king of the whole sport, and, according to analyst Max Kellerman, really has been all along.
“Every era has that guy,” said the ex-HBO side man, who dusted off the tux and returned to his ringside perch alongside former colleague Andre Ward and UFC veteran Jon Anik. “We have people who lived through Michael Jordan’s era. Try telling them that LeBron is better. Well, Bud Crawford is that to this era of boxing.
“Looking back at his career, it is reasonable to say he has been the best pound-for-pound fighter for the last 12 years. Almost no one who has ever lived has ever done that.”
Crawford won eight of 12 rounds on one official scorecard and seven of 12 on the two others, sweeping the final two rounds across the board to guarantee he’d improve to 42-0 and lock in the sort of high-profile swan song that his P4P predecessor, Floyd Mayweather Jr., had after beating Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto in 2015.
No, he didn’t officially announce his retirement in the ring afterward.
But he sounded an awful lot like a guy who’d accepted his last challenge, completed it, and was ready to reflect on a 17-year career’s job well done.
“Thank you to all the supporters,” he said. “And thank you to all the haters. You all made this event.”
Given his personality, probably more so the latter group.
Described by former HBO blow-by-blow man as “maniacally competitive” and echoed by Kellerman as “defectively” so, Crawford said the seed for the Alvarez was planted two years ago when he heard, prior to their welterweight showdown, that imminent foe Errol Spence Jr. was already chatting up the idea of his own Canelo challenge.
Spence was beaten into a one-sided submission in July 2023, and Crawford, who’d just once since then—a desultory defeat of 154-pound belt-holder Israil Madrimov last summer—spent the subsequent 13 months calling for, agreeing to and then preparing for the match with Alvarez, who’d arrived with 63 wins in a career dating back to 2005.
The winner moved well, flurried often, and, most importantly, never wavered under the typically withering pressure exerted by his 35-year-old foe. He took single shots with little sign of damage and was never stationary or inactive long enough to let Alvarez deliver the prolonged volley of shots that had doomed title-fight foes from 154 to 175.
Afterward, it was Alvarez suggesting he’d put more on the line taking the fitght.
“That’s what I do. I take risks,” he said. “I feel great to share the ring with a great fighter like him. If we do it again, great. But my legacy is already there. Crawford is a skilled fighter. He’s a strong fighter.”
Kellerman’s post-fight assertion aside, it’s been a contentious few years atop the pound-for-pound heap given Crawford’s inactivity and the significant multi-weight accomplishments of both Oleksandr Usyk, who’s become undisputed champ at cruiserweight and heavyweight, and Naoya Inoue, who’s won belts from 108 to 122 pounds while winning all but three of his 27 fights by KO.
The Ukrainian has gone 4-0 against British behemoths Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, while Inoue, billed as “The Monster,” has racked up undisputed status at two weights and has long been fancied as a guy who could climb multiple rungs like Pacquiao.
But none of their obstacles have been as daunting as Alvarez, a Hall of Fame-bound star who’s got a four-weight championship pedigree of his own. And unless a new boogeyman suddenly emerges around them, it’s difficult to imagine any foreseeable foe could be.
Which makes Kellerman’s assertions about Crawford even more accurate.
“This generation will say about him what the last one said about Floyd, and what generations before them said about Sugar Ray Robinson,” Kellerman said. “No one could’ve beaten our guy. He’s the GOAT.”
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