This may be a big statement, but I feel that Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo Alvarez is the most important single in boxing history last Saturday night. Throw another one after me, and I would love to be debated or proven wrong. I hate it at this time and age when I see social media feeds talking about the biggest fighters or fights and they act as if boxing doesn’t exist in front of Mike Tyson.
However, I like the history of the box, and I go back to Gene Tunney who defeats Jack Dempsey, Henry Armstrong becomes a 3-weight champion, Barney Ross beats, and then lukewarm Amers. Yet, when I recorded my brain and went back almost a century, I couldn’t see what Terence Crawford had just done. My number 1 fighter of all time is Sugar Ray Robinson, but even he was lacking when he tried to do a light heavyweight grimness and lost against Joey Maxim (heat exhaustion). Crawford’s performance over the weekend is simply incredible.
Including Crawford’s victory last night, I’m going to discuss my five best wins from fighters who detect two weight divisions and ultimately what this victory means for Crawford’s legacy.
Top 5
First, I will give some honorable mention to those who did not make the list. Oscar de la Hoya was perhaps a fighter when he faced Manny Pacquiao, but the ease with which the Philippine fighter Oscar sent with speed and angles was jaw. It cemented him as a superstar and bypassed the 140 -pound section to face a legend.
Adrien Broner also skipped £ 140 when he faced Paulie Malig Naggi to make his title via a split decision. A good victory, but in fairness, when Broner fought the right natural welter weights, he struggled.
#5: Bernard Hopkins 46-4-1 v Antonio Tarver 24-3 on October 10, 2006
Bernard Hopkins looked like he was going to spend his career as middleweight champion after making 20 defense of his belts before losing it to Jermaine Taylor. Bernard, until his forties at this point, decided to skip 168 pounds and go straight to Antonio Tarver with a light heavyweight.
Tarver was on a good run, after beating Roy Jones twice and securing a rematch victory over Glen Johnson. It looked a difficult question, but ‘the executor’ won almost every round. Bernard has been disregarding the chance of the coming year for several years.
#4: Roy Jones Jnr 47-1 v John Ruiz 34-4-1 on 1 March 2003
Maybe it should be higher. It felt very important at the time. Roy was the P4P number 1, and it seemed as if he was facing unbeaten Dariusz Michalchewski to become unwilling or moving up to Cruiserweight to encounter Vassily Jurov.
However, Roy went to Legacy and bypassed the then 190 pound division to stand for WBA champion John Ruiz. Someone who became so small to become a heavyweight champion seemed unthinkable. If Roy Lennox Lewis challenged and beaten, it would probably be number 1. Moving two divisions to heavyweight is not just that; The man you face can be 50 more pounds heavier than you.
The other champions at the time were Chris Byrd (IBF) and the late Corrie Sanders (WBO). In fairness, John Ruiz was no joke. He came from the back of a trilogy against Evander Holyfield (winning, loss, draw) and just defeated the talented Kirk Johnson. Ruiz was difficult to look good: tough, robust, strong and powerful.
Ruiz tried to chase him, but Roy took control of round 3. It was a real epic performance, and at the age of 33 he could have retired as one of the greatest ever. Unfortunately, 20 years later, Roy still took a box, but no one can take away what he reached that day.
#3: Shane Mosley 34-0 v Oscar de la Hoya 32-1 on June 17, 2000
At this point, Sugar and Goldenboy are considered Top P4P fighters, but Shane was a lightweight, with Oscar a welter weight. De la Hoya lost only once, controversial against Felix Trinidad, with the most felt that he had done enough to win. This is a battle that I would recommend to look at.
Technical chess match at high level with the right amount of action. At this point, Shane looked unbeatable and without a doubt pound for pound number 1. Unfortunately, he was not so successful when he faced Vernan Forrest while losing back-to-back competitions, although he still had an excellent career.
#2: Ray Leonard 33-1 v Marvin Hagler 62-2-2 on April 6, 1987
It really is the only victory that comes near Crawford on Saturday. Hagler’s record is strikingly similar to that of Canelo’s. Wonderful seemed unbeatable, mean, strong, powerful, war.
Leonard was a welter weight and did not fight in three years. In his last outing, he looked extremely underscorous against Kevin Howard, beat the deck and looked easily to hit. Many people feel that Hagler has won this battle, but after watching it so many times, he just started too slowly and chose the wrong attitude. Sugar Ray has cemented himself as a top -10 fighter of all time with this victory.
#1: Terence Crawford 41-0 v Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 63-2-2 on September 13, 2025
Since Crawford fought only once at 154 pounds, one could argue that he had essentially moved up three divisions. Unlike when Broner or Jones went up and adopted fewer champions, Crawford fought the man.
Even Canelo himself, when he went up, adopted a declining Kovalev rather than Biblical or Betterbiev. People really need to understand that what Crawford did would not be possible. Yes, Canelo could fall, but he still defeated three unbeaten boxers in his last three games.
He was much more active than Crawford, with the American turning 38 this month. When Bud Errol Spence knocked, I thought it was it, the legacy victory, top 25 of all time, one of the best of his era. The idea that he was the fight against Canelo looked absurd, but he did, and he did. For me, it puts him in the top 5 of all time and in the conversation for the best ever. It’s time he got his respect.
Epilogue: I have to take a moment to give my respect to Ricky Hatton. I met him at the Scott Harrison v Wayne McCullough battle with the others made big Johnny Tapia. Ricky was so generous with his time; He will truly be remembered as a man of the people, more than a boxer. Seeing Tszyu Live beat was the biggest atmosphere I’ve ever been. An entire city and nation were behind him and threw every punch with him. He will be very missed, a true legend.
Last updated on 09/15/2025
