Terence Crawford’s ‘Top 3 All-Time’ Claim After Canelo Fight Ignites Anger: Fans Accuse Him Of Ignorance And Disrespecting Boxing Legends

Terence Crawford’s comment about his victory over Canelo Alvarez earning him a top-three spot in the all-time pound-for-pound list has fans debating this subject, and many of them believe he’s completely ignorant about the sport’s history.

(Credit: Zach Delgado/Matchroom)

Historical Naivety

They feel Crawford doesn’t know about the past greats, so he naively thinks a victory over Canelo alone is enough to place him ahead of fighters who did much more in their careers. The greats of the past didn’t just have two good names on their resumes, as Crawford does.

They had records filled with formidable talent. You can’t blame Terence for not knowing about the past great fighters. Crawford isn’t the only active fighter who is unaware of the history of the sport.

In an interview with Manouk Akopyan, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) pointed out that he’ll be moving up essentially three weight classes when he challenges Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) for what he predicts will be the undisputed super middleweight championship on September 13th.

It would be impressive if Crawford were to beat Canelo to become a three-division undisputed champion. Still, it would be difficult to place him highly due to his limited resume.

Compared to fighters of the past, who fought excellent opposition throughout their careers, Terence’s record is almost entirely barren of elite opposition. He has a win over Errol Spence, but not much else on his resume would suggest that he belongs in the top 3 or the top 50 pound-for-pound of all time.

Top Pound-for-pound Fighters from the Past

Sugar Ray RobinsonMuhammad AliOscar De La HoyaRoberto DuránHenry ArmstrongWillie PepPernell WhitakerFloyd Mayweather Jr.Manny PacquiaoRoy Jones Jr.Sugar Ray LeonardJulio César ChávezJack JohnsonJack DempseyEzzard CharlesArchie MooreSandy SaddlerRicardo LópezCarlos MonzónBernard Hopkins

This is just a small list of fighters who have compiled better records than Crawford. Even if Terence does a past his best Canelo on September 13th, it would be crazy to place him above these fighters.

Delusions or Reality?

It’s okay for a fighter to have confidence, but when their appraisal of themselves goes overboard, they come across as sad, deluded, and out of touch with reality. Crawford’s inflated sense of his achievements has been there for years now.

So, it’s not just a new thing. He’s consistently rated himself at the top, and no one paid attention to him until now because he’d never fought significant opposition.

At this point, Alvarez is widely viewed as having lost his ambition and only fighting for money. Crawford is kind of in the same boat. He’s not taking the risks either. He looks like he’s focused on getting the biggest payday he can without fighting the most formidable contenders. Canelo is the biggest payday for the Nebraska native.

Canelo currently holds three belts, but he’s a favorite to pick up the last remaining belt against IBF 168-lb champion William Scull on May 3rd. Crawford only fought once at 154 after moving up from 147 last August. So, it’s hard to really call him a junior middleweight because is experience in that weight class is limited to the one fight against Israil Madrimov.

Crawford didn’t want to take a warm-up at 168 before challenging Canelo for his belts in September, but he could have. It was his choice, and he chose to sit and wait.