Terence Crawford sounded annoyed in talking to the media today, complaining about not receiving his flowers for his victory over Canelo Alvarez earlier this month on September 13. Crawford is expected to be mentioned among the all-time greats by fans.
Crawford Complains About Canelo Victory Credit
Instead, they belittled his win over the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo, noting how faded he’d looked in the fight and in his three previous contests. That’s not what Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) wanted to hear.
Today, Crawford chose to vent to the media about not receiving credit that he felt he deserved. He wanted to be validated instead of being viewed as a calculated opportunist who campaigned for Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) and was allowed to cut corners to secure the title shot by not having to fight any of the top contenders at 168 who might have beaten him.
“When you’re so much ahead of your competition, they look at the fighters that you fight and say, ‘They’re nobodies,’ because of how much you beat them by or the level of skills that you pose against them,” said Terence Crawford to the reporters today ahead of his parade in Omaha, talking about how people aren’t giving him full credit for beating Canelo Alvarez.
Was Crawford Really “Ahead” of Anyone?
Ahead of what? Crawford is not making any sense here, babbling about being “ahead of your competition.” He barely beat what many boxing fans view as an over-the-hill Canelo in their fight on September 13, edging him by the scores 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112 in a 12-round unanimous decision.
That was a very close fight that Crawford would have likely lost if Alvarez hadn’t emptied his gas tank in the championship rounds from nine through twelve. Canelo didn’t look good, and neither did Crawford, moving constantly, looking afraid to mix it up.
The way both fighters looked, they’d have lost to at least five of the top contenders at 168. You’d have matched those two aging fighters against Lester Martinez, Christian Mbilli, or Osleys Iglesias on that night, I believe they would have lost to these young lions.
“So, when I fight this guy, ‘He was a nobody.’ When I fight this guy, ‘He was washed.’ When I fight this guy, it’s an excuse. So, who do you want me to fight? I beat this guy; it’s an excuse. When I beat this guy, He was too young.’ I’m never going to get my full respect until after,” said Crawford.
Why Crawford Isn’t Ranked All-Time Great
The reality is, Crawford likely won’t be given the kind of respect from fans in the future because he failed to fight any of the top guys, the elite, who were in their prime. Unlike the fighters on the all-time great list;
Sugar Ray Leonard
Roberto Duran
Muhammad Ali,
Crawford’s Refusal to Fight Benavidez
Crawford didn’t take the same risks against the fighters that he was expected to lose to. Terence’s recent refusal to fight David Benavidez is a classic example of why he doesn’t belong among the top four on the Mount Rushmore of boxing. What do you call that refusal, cowardice, chicken, and failure of nerves?
Whatever name you want to come up with, Crawford’s decision not to challenge himself by facing Benavidez shows that he doesn’t belong on the all-time great list, not even at the bottom.
When your best wins are against a fading Canelo Alvarez and a car-crash-wrecked Errol Spence, you’re not going to be remembered 40 to 100 years from now by fans. That’s Crawford’s main problem. He didn’t fight the best, and the top guys that he did beat were a shell of their former selves when he fought them
Terence’s best wins
Kell Brook
Canelo Alvarez
Ricky Burns
Yuriorkis Gamboa
Julius Indongo
Amir Khan
Shawn Porter
