The Nebraska native becomes the first boxer since 1938 to win undisputed championships in three different weight divisions.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
Throughout his boxing career, Terence “Bud” Crawford (42-0, 31 knockouts) always knew he had the “it” factor as a boxer en route to becoming the undisputed world champion in two weight divisions.
Even though Crawford has had an unbeaten record, he, along with more than a few observers of the sport, felt he had never received the recognition the big money fights that he truly deserved. But whenever he had the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong, he took care of business.
Last Saturday night, Crawford, who jumped from the 154-pound super welterweight division to the 168-pound super middleweight division, proved his critics wrong again.
Against undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (63 wins, 3 losses, 2 draws, and 39 knockouts), no one thought that Crawford was good enough to move up two weight classes and defeat one of the greatest fighters of the 21st century.
In front of the largest crowd in the brief history of Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium and millions more watching on Netflix, Crawford won a convincing unanimous decision over Alvarez Saturday night to become the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world.
“It means a lot to me because anybody can be a nobody because all they said I was fighting is nobodies, so what can they say now?” Crawford asked rhetorically during his post-fight press conference. “For sure, this is definitely a signature victory. Moving up two weight classes and on the B-side and fighting a guy that’s been undefeated in the division, undisputed, and going to take all his titles, and doing everything I said I was going to do. Of course, this means a lot.”
Crawford said during his previous runs to an undisputed title, he came into those fights as a reigning champion. Against Alvarez, he was coming with no titles and as a decided underdog, moving up to two weight classes.
“I felt like everything was on the line,” Crawford said.
Oddly enough, the judge’s scorecards said the fight was closer. Two of the three judges scored the 115-113 in favor of Crawford. The third judge scored the fight 116-112.
The scoring of the fight was on a 10-point must system where the winner of a round is awarded 10 points while the loser receives nine points.
More than a few observers at ringside felt that Crawford’s win over Alvarez was far more convincing than the scores indicated.
Crawford was simply too fast and beat Alvarez to the punch with sharper combinations, counter-punching, and lateral movement. For every one punch that Alvarez landed, Crawford would counter him with a two or three-punch combination that kept his opponent from landing clean and consistent shots.
According to the final stats of the fight, Crawford landed 165 punches compared to the 132 that Alvarez landed. Crawford landed 129 shots to Alvarez’s head and landed 56 percent of his power shots.
Alvarez admitted that he had no answer to what Crawford was doing and that he couldn’t find a way to impose his physical presence on the Omaha, Nebraska, native.
“We knew Crawford was a great fighter and I tried my best, but I couldn’t figure out the style,” said Alvarez, who experienced just his third loss in his career. “Sometimes, you try, and your body can’t, and that was my frustration.”
Not only was Crawford’s win over Alvarez a stunning upset, but it was also a history-making win as well. He became the first male boxer in the four-belt era to be the undisputed champion in three weight classes. He has won championships in five different weight classes
The last fighter to be an undisputed world champion in three weight classes was Henry Armstrong in 1938, when he was world champion in the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions.
In one final postscript to this fight, a reporter asked Crawford about his definition of greatness.
“You’re looking at it,” he replied, referring to himself.
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