Trainer Greg Hackett says a Terence Crawford victory over Canelo Alvarez in 2025 would make him the best fighter in 30 years.
To consider Crawford the best fighter of the last 30 years because he beat his best Canelo would be to ignore many great fighters who did much more than him.
We already know how Crawford will choose to fight Canelo using it Mayweather plan of the hit and run. He is NOT going to stand in front of Canelo and trade shots.
Terence will play it safe and make the match boring all the time. Fans will feel angry that they wasted their money by ordering the fight on PPV.
Hackett already sees Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) as the #1 pound-for-pound to win world titles in four divisions and become undisputed in two weight classes. It’s hard to agree with Hackett because Crawford’s wins in those four categories weren’t against anyone in particular.
If you watched Canelo’s last two fights against Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia, you’ll know he’s past his prime at 34. He’s showing age in his 19th year as a pro. The first two fights against Gennadiy Golovkin took a lot out of Canelo and he hasn’t looked the same since.
Measuring Crawford’s legacy
Crawford is fair another Adrien Broner from this point of view. Broner also held world titles in four weight classes, but his resume was as thin as Bud’s. It shows you how weakened the four alphabet titles are for fighters to capture belts with the help of their stylish supporters.
Bud’s Best wins
– Israel Madrimov
– Errol Spence
– Sean Porter
“Kel Brook.”
– Aamir Khan
– Yuriorkis Gamboa
– Ricky Burns
– Victor Postol
You’d have to be naive to think those are good enough wins to make Crawford #1 p-4-p or the best fighter of the last 30 years. Based on these wins, I can only say that his trainers have matched Crawford very carefully.
Those are NOT enough fighters to give credit to Crawford for beating them because he was mostly over the hill when he fought them. Madrimov is the only one who didn’t get shot and came close to beating Crawford in the 12th fight in his favor.
If Crawford beat a fading 34-year-old Canelo, it wouldn’t make him the greatest of the last 30 years because he wouldn’t have racked up the kinds of wins the former six-division world champion has. Oscar De La Hoya or champion of eight classes Manny Pacquiao they did during their careers. These two are the best.
You can’t include Crawford because he fought weak opposition, and the same with Floyd Mayweather Jr. “Money May” was very selective with the opposition he fought and spent too much time cherry picking to preserve the precious O. Floyd was the catalyst for this generation of cherry pickers. He was the teacher.
“Tank is a beast, but I think pound for pound, Bud (Crawford) is #1. Many times people questioned him. They challenged him against (Errol) Spence. They challenged him against (Israel) Madrimov. Some say he was too young. I heard them,” Greg Hackett said YSM Sports Media on his belief that Terence Crawford should be #1 pound for pound.
“When he fought Victor Postol, (Crawford) was very young. When he fought (Yuriorkis) Gamboa, he didn’t know enough. There was a lot of s***. If she beats Canelo, she’s the baddest mother in 30 years,” Hackett said of Terence.
“Right now in the game, it has to be Budd, and then probably Inoue after that,” Hackett continued regarding his belief that Crawford should be #1 pound-for-pound in the sport. “Well, people don’t get it. He had been counted for a long time. He kept winning and won a lot of a**.
It is too early to say that Crawford will get the fight against Canelo in 2025. Nothing is official yet, and there is a good chance that Canelo will turn down this fight. It’s kind of a no-win fight for Canelo, as Crawford gets more out of it than he does. If he beats Crawford, there is no real gain. Crawford beating Canelo would be huge and the payday would be huge too. The money alone is a win for Crawford.
The limits of the titles
“The tank was always a 130, 135-pounder. People try to say Tank was 126 pounds,” Hackett said. “I fought two cards with Tank. He never really made 126. I say Bud beat the s*** at 135, 140, 147 and just won a belt at 154.
“Champion at 135, undisputed at 140 and 147, right? Then he won another belt at 154. He’s still undefeated,” Hackett said of Crawford. “A lot of steps up, a lot of guys that were supposed to beat him. A lot of guys who were supposed to be too old for him. Very fast, very powerful. He was supposed to be very experienced and beat them all. He gave Gamboa his first defeat.”
Again, winning four division world titles doesn’t mean Crawford is great because he didn’t beat anyone to win his four division titles.
Crawford’s four division title wins
– Israel Madrimov: 154
– Jeff Horn: 147
– Thomas Dulorme: 140
– Ricky Burns: 135
2024-12-31 22:01:00
