Trainer Greg Hackett says a win for Terence Crawford over Canelo Alvarez in 2025 would make him the best fighter in the last 30 years.
For Crawford to be seen as the best fighter in the last 30 years for beating Canelo past his prime would be to ignore many great fighters who have done far more than him.
We already know how Crawford will choose to fight Canelo by the Mayweather blueprint of hitting and running. He is NOT going to stand in front of Canelo and trade shots.
Terence will play it safe and make the fight boring all the time. Fans will feel angry because they are wasting their money by ordering the fight on PPV.
Hackett already ranks Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) as the #1 pound-for-pound for capturing world titles in four divisions and undisputed in two weight classes. It’s hard to agree with Hackett because Crawford’s wins in those four divisions weren’t against anyone special.
If you’ve seen Canelo’s last two fights against Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia, you’ll know he’s looking 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.
Measure Crawford’s legacy
Crawford is just another Adrien Broner in that respect. Broner also won world titles in four weight classes, but his resume was as weak as Bud’s. It shows you how watered down the divisions are four alphabet titles for fighters to pick and choose to capture belts with the help of their slick promoters.
Bud’s best wins
– Israel Madrimov
– Errol Spence
– Shawn Porter
“Kell Brook.”
– Amir Khan
– Yuriorkis Gamboa
– Ricky Burns
– Viktor 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 in the last 30 years. Based on those wins, I can only say that his promoters match Crawford very closely.
That is NOT enough fighters to give Crawford credit for beating them because they were mostly over the hill when he fought them. Madrimov is the only one not shot, and he came close to Crawford in his 12th pro fight.
If Crawford were to beat a fading 34-year-old Canelo, it wouldn’t make him the best in the past 30 years, because he wouldn’t be putting together the kind of wins that former six-division world champion put together. Oscar De La Hoya or eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao have done 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 too selective with the opposition he fought and spent too much time cherry picking to preserve his precious O. Floyd was the catalyst for this generation’s cherry pickers. He was the teacher.
“Tank is a beast, but I think pound-for-pound, Bud (Crawford) is #1. Many times people doubted him. They doubted him against (Errol) Spence. They doubted him against (Israel) Madrimov. Some people say he was too small. I heard them,” Greg Hackett said YSM Sports Media on his belief that Terence Crawford should be #1 pound-for-pound.
“When he fought Viktor Postol, he (Crawford) was too small. When he (Yuriorkis) fought Gamboa, he didn’t know enough. There was a lot of s***. If he beats Canelo, he’s the worst mother f**** in the last 30 years,” Hackett said of Terence.
“Right now in the game, it has to be Bud, and then probably Inoue after that,” Hackett continued on his belief that Crawford should be #1 pound-for-pound in the sport. “Brother, people don’t understand. He was counted out a long time ago. He kept winning and beating 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’s a good chance Canelo will turn down that fight. It’s kind of a no-win match for Canelo because Crawford is getting more out of it than he is. If he beats Crawford, there is no real gain. Crawford beating Canelo would be huge, and the payday would be massive as well. Just the money alone is a win for Crawford.
The boundaries of titles
“Tank has always been a 130, 135 pounds. People try to say Tank was a 126,” Hackett said. “I’ve fought Tank on a few cards. He never really made 126. I say Bud hit at 135, 140, 147 s***e and just won a belt at 154.
“A champion at 135, undisputed at 140 and 147, right? After that he won another belt at 154. He’s still undefeated,” Hackett said of Crawford. “A lot of steps up, a lot of guys who were supposed to beat him. Lots of guys who were supposed to be too big for him. Too fast, too strong. This one was supposed to be too experienced, and he beat them all. He gave Gamboa his first defeat.”
Again, winning world titles in four divisions doesn’t mean Crawford is great because he didn’t beat anyone to win his four division titles.
Crawford’s four-division title win
– Israil Madrimov: 154
– Jeff Horn: 147
– Thomas Dulorme: 140
– Ricky Burns: 135
