Terence Crawford's Legacy

His resume is as thin or thinner than Furys. Neither can be considered top 10 ATG either in their division or as simply boxers. Top 50 maybe?

IF Crawford moves up and defeats Canelo that would be a statement, same as Fury beating Usyk and/or Joshua.

 

Bivol and Inoue are in awe of the guy.

 

The issue is you say these things like Bud is immune to age and or injury. Bud was literally shot in the f***ing head. And you ignore that but make a car accident out to be worst than getting shot in the head w a gun.

You are clueless.

And Bud had to wait for all the PBC WWs because they're bad. When they finally stepped up Bud stopped em. K.O.

1st male to be undisputed in 2 weight classes (4 belt era), undefeated across 3 divisions, had an ATG win over fellow P4P standout in Spence, and has zero controversial fights in his career.

Unfortunately I think Bud's last fight or two are very important for his legacy. Does he get Canelo? Does he get Tsyzu? How do those fights go? Time will tell

 

He's 3 fights away from being one of the top ten ever

 

The most ignorant rebuttal comes first. It's funny how everyone moves the goal post when it comes to Bud.... Why is that? It's like y'all have a personal hatred for him as if he slapped your boyfriend and kicked your baby in the face afterwards.

EJ was in a car accident, yes. But no major surgeries were required, reportedly, his fans began promoting him as if he had an "S" on his chest. Bragged about him beating a lightweight (Mikey), bragged about him beating a drained Kell Brook coming off surgery. Bragged about him beating 2 welterweights who lost to every elite they've faced in the division (Porter/Danny). Then bragged about him beating someone who lost to one of them (Ugas).... Claimed Crawford was avoiding him. Didn't want the smoke. Was too small to deal with EJ's body shots. Even questioned Crawford's chin.....but he goes and steam rolls EJ.....now, EJ's a....."victim"......lol.

Benavidez at no point in his career was ever going to beat Crawford. He has never shown the IQ to do anything other than be flat foot and attempt to counter a punch who is coming down hill. He got shot in the leg 2 years prior to fighting Crawford. Guess what....he fought 2 opponents in between that time before getting in the ring with Crawford. He won both of those fights via stoppage. Go look at both of those fights.... You'll notice he wasn't wearing anything on his knee to compete vs Rojas nor Strode (the names of those opponents). I also have footage of him sparring in my gym just before he fought Crawford....and there's nothing on his leg then. But come the Crawford fight, he has a sleeve on his knee.....A sleeve, not brace. And the sleeve isn't even padded. It's a sleeve you can pick up at Walgreens. Guess what....His next opponent was Emmanuel Torres......where was the sleeve in that fight? How is it that his leg was a handicap vs Crawford but not the opponents he fought before and after him. We'll ignore the fact that every fighter goes through an extensive physical just for the boxing sanctioning body to approve them to compete for a title and obviously Benavidez passed the physical with flying colors.

And now we are going to address Gamboa as a 126lb'er to discredit Crawford beating him as a lightweight, but you won't credit Crawford for beating EJ, Benavidez, Porter, Brook, or Horn who all work around north of 180 and have all competed as a middleweight. Gamboa was undefeated and ranked in the top 5 by the Ring Magazine when Crawford put him down 5x in that fight. It was a fight that showcased that Crawford was no longer just a name on the come up. He was a proven force and deserved to be in the ring with other top competitors.

Without all the emotions, those are the hard facts that you Man Fans push to the side. Nothing I stated above is my opinion. It's $hit that actually occurred on a timeline. Things you can go and see.

 

14 world champions, he stopped 12 of them. 5 of them were undefeated......

The argument of "level of opposition" is a vantage point of an individual who either doesn't want to credit him, or is ignorant of the opponents he's faced. No he hasn't fought a lot of popular names according to American boxing followers, but those unpopular names like Burns, Brook, Khan, even Horn.....are bigger stars in their homeland than Spence is in the United States.

 

This is moving the goal post. This same notion was said about Spence back in 2021...... Crawford's fist was engraved at the HOF ceremony along other greats in boxing history. Crawford became THE ONLY active fighter to go through that ceremony. The committee considers Crawford a great TODAY while he's still competing.... This sparked the conversation and caused the media and new media to ask the question if Crawford needed Spence to cement his legacy.

Some said Crawford was HOF without Spence.....others said that he needed a Spence win to be considered an ATG. Crawford being dominant over his opponents seems to have hurt him in the eyes of these casual fans. It's like you can't be great for too long then people question your opposition. I hear Lebron fans claiming that the NBA was weak in the 80s & 90s, thus the reason Michael Jordan was so dominant.......

A man can only be great by controlling what he can control in a dominant fashion...... Crawford has done that just like any other name in history that we pour respect on.

 

I'm not saying and have not said he is not HOF worthy, just that as I explained his resume is too thin to be considered top ten ATG as the OP postulated. Horn, Khan, Brook...seriously? B level opposition although Horn was club level at best. Postol and Spence were his best wins and AGAIN as I said if (IF) he fights and beats Canelo his ranking all time would certainly rise upwards.

 

It's crazy. Because when people bring up Duran, Hearns, Hagler, Leonard,.....no one mentions their other opponents to any lengthy extent, just the fact that they fought each other.

I'm guessing you know what a Lineal Champion is........of the 4 Kings.....all were crowned this during their careers. Only Leonard gained the title more than once (4x, twice as a welterweight after avenging his lost to Duran)..... Crawford......he's accomplish this feat 3x......on top of that became the first to become UNDISPUTED in 2 separate divisions. Yet.....we sitting here discussing weather Crawford deserves to be in the discussion of a mythological top 10 discussion........We I know the names that most will solidify in this list are individuals where they don't know anything about most of the opponents that fighter faced. They are simply stating that they are ATG because some other source says it and it's repeated over time.

Crawford is a great in which we were able to see his dominance time after time after time. He didn't come from the Olympic pedigree. He didn't start with a major promotional platform. He literally crawled from the bottom of the sport to his position today. People came up with reasons he would be successful vs whatever opponent as he was coming up because he didn't have the flashy style that wow's the audience, but afterwards, people forget and/or ignore the fact that they doubted his ability. Every world champion he's faced, there was some string of doubt and yet, Crawford got in and out without too much or any trouble. And rather than give him credit for his dominance, people rather tear down the value of that opponent.

If you are doubting him today after all he's already done, you'll never credit him with anything to satisfy your opinion of what a great is. So there's no need to suggest he needs to fight Charlo, because we know what the excuse is going to be after that fight.... Or a Boots......etc....... There's always going to be the back handed comments about his accomplishments. He's not worried, so I'm not either. I'm just going to enjoy this ALL TIME GREAT while he's still here.

 

Read my OP on this thread. I said his lack of opposition keeps him out of the top 100 atg list in my opinion.

 

Don't forget first fighter to be undisputed in the 4 belt era. TC is one of my favorite fighters. He's got a lot of dog in him. If you are being honest with the list of fighters you mentioned, none were prime. Do I think he beats them if they were, yes. That's what makes being an ATG so special. A fighter needs to fight the right opponents at the right time and have great accomplishments. For example, would there be any doubt that Marciano is the greatest heavyweight ever if he had beaten a prime, Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, Joe louis and Archie Moore. Of course we're boxing fans and people would still argue, but RM would be at the top of a short list. Higher than he is now.

And let's be honest, my opinion is subjective just like yours. Perhaps My ATG standars are too high. But don't get it twisted, I'm not ignorant and I'm not a hater of Crawford.

 

Crawford can only beat what’s in front of him and he has done that with ease to go Undisputed in not just one division but two,not only that but his biggest rival for a number of years who many predicted on here to beat Crawford got took apart and stopped in nine rounds,the same ones now saying that Spence was a car crash victim to lessen the win which is typical of the mentality on here sometimes in regards to certain fighters. Crawfords career is not over by a long way so is still an open book and may well add further achievements to an already outstanding career .

 

in his own words: "the eye test can lie to you"

 

TC is a damn good fighter. Just watch a few of his fights. His ability to adapt, timing, accuracy, positioning, all that with decent power. I've been watching boxing long enough to believe what I see.

 

How so?