Eddie Hearn says he still has Oleksandr utilityk as his number 1 pound-by-pound, and he feels that he deserves the honor rather than Terence Crawford.
This week, the ring panel Crawford (42-0, 31 CO’s) voted in the #1 p4p place after his 12-round victory over Canelo Alvarez last Saturday night on September 13.
Hearn’s USYK P4P argument
Hearn believes that Crawford’s wins on his resume did not match what USyk has done over the past four years to become an undisputed champion of two division.
USYK’s wins since 2021
- Daniel Dubois x 2
- Tyson Fury x 2
- Anthony Joshua x 2
“As for the real victories for Terence Crawford, I think the pound-by-pound #1 still has to be Oleksandr utility,” said Eddie Hearn, a match promoter. The bumpy ground. ‘But when you look at the actual achievements, five-division world champion, is three times undisputed. On paper is Terence with a big scream. ‘
Crawford wins five divisional titles sounds wonderful until you examine the fighters he has beaten to achieve it. He beat many flawed, old and worn fighters to win those titles. Canelo was just the latest of the worn and old fighters who beat Terence.
Although 37-year-old Crawford is two years older than Canelo, he did not take the same punishment for his poor resume. Terence did not fight with guys like an excellent Gennadiy Golovkin, Dmitry Biblical, Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara or Callum Smith. Crawford fought guys like Ricky Burns.
USYK’s unparalleled achievements
“I feel like I get to Cruiserweight all the champions and AJ gets up twice and two twice Fury, Dubois twice. I actually have Utility on the no. 1-place chased. Just because Crawford beat Canelo, I don’t necessarily think it makes him pound-by-pound, ‘says Hearn.
Eddie makes a good point. Crawford’s victory over Canelo is not enough of an important victory to take him to a pound-by-pound. If you have taken into account in the last three years in the past three years in the last three years in the loss of Dmitri Biblical in the past three years, you realize that Crawford’s victory is not so impressive.
Alvarez looked poor in his last three fights against William Scull, Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia. Crawford was just an opportunist who used the exhausted state of Canelo. Turki Alalshikh assisted Crawford by offering Canelo a lot of money to face him. If Crawford had to work after the title shot, he would probably have been collected by Christian Mbilli.
For Crawford to be considered #1 pound-by-pound, I believe he had to beat this kind of fighters:
- Christian Milli
- Jaron Ennis
- David benavidez
- Lester Martinez
Last updated on 09/18/2025
