Crawford is the best ever.

For me it all comes down to your point of reference.

When I was younger at LEBA meetings with my Grandad, I’d be talking up guys like Whitaker, Roy Jones, or James Toney — and the old-timers would instantly come back with Willie Pep, Canzoneri, Robinson, etc. I’d go watch the tapes and think “this looks like slow motion compared to today” — but to them, that was the pinnacle.

It’s the same cycle now. Every generation has their guy. For the old heads it was Pep, for me it was Whitaker/Jones/Toney, and for this generation right now, it’s Crawford.

Like Kellerman said on the broadcast: you can’t really compare across eras. People who saw Jordan will always swear by him, younger fans will say LeBron. Crawford is simply this generation’s Jordan.

 

Exactly — spot on. That evolution point is the whole thing.

The one thing they all did agree on though — no matter what era or who they thought was the best — was how much they hated the managers and promoters.

Anytime Mickey Duff showed up at a LEBA meeting with a fighter, all the old pros would be in that guy’s ear right away, warning him what a snake Duff was. They might have argued for hours about who the greatest fighter was, but when it came to managers/promoters, they were all on the exact same page.

 

He is up there that's for sure.

 

Definitely now in the conversation.

What impresses me the most is how dominant he is against all type of fighters. The Shawn Porter fight will get even more attention now with the fame Bud will acquire. It looked when he just went through the gears when it was said the fight was close. Destroying Spence was, for me more impressive, than the Canelo win.

It's sad now how Arum & Top Rank wasted some of his peak years.

 

...and Usyk

 

Well if you say so then it must be true.

 

Well Arum actually tried to offload Crawford during COVID — said he was unmarketable, sold no tickets, wasn’t box office, didn’t promote himself enough, and even begrudged paying him what he was contractually due. Classic projection. They should’ve just made the fights and let his talent do the talking in the ring. But Arum’s done the same with De La Hoya, Mayweather, and then post-Crawford with Shakur. All of them left him, and each is in the conversation as the best of their era. Shakur is basically Crawford 2.0, and hopefully the world gets to see it while he’s in his prime. That’s where Turki is a positive — he cuts through the promoter games and just makes the fights.

 

Mayweather would have beat him

 

So Crawford beats a past prime Canelo and now that means he can beat RJJ, Hagler, Hopkins, Mayweather, SRL, Hearns, Duran, PAC, Calzaghe, Toney, JCC, etc?

If they are better athletes today than in past eras, can you please explain to me why Canelo threw less than 30 punches a round over 12 rounds and was knackered?

I hear this all the time about them being better athletes, yet I lose count of the amount of times I see guys gassed by the mid way point of a fight.

 

Crawford certainly an ATG and best in his era by a mile.

 

Agree he would, as would have Ray Leonard. Bud is a great boxer, but let’s not get carried away with greatest ever talk.

As for people saying best in his era by a country mile, that’s a bold statement seeing we currently have Usyk still active.

 

Exactly this. Canelo has been taken the distance recently by the likes of John Ryder and that guy from Brooklyn who Sheeraz just took out relatively early. Crawford beats him at the weekend and now is the best ever. Yeah ok people, maybe get some air.

This is coming from a huge Bud fan, I’ve seen him box live multiple times and rate him very highly, but he doesn’t have a great resume even at 147 which was his best weight class performance wise. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t boxed that many or enough great boxers. Elite in this era yes, ATG probably, anything else, stop getting carried away.

 

H2H Crawford is a difficult task for almost any ATG. He is a brilliant fighter.
Bud is a certified great, but he has no strong resume in terms of other ATGs. You could go through Buds resume and pick a few holes along the way. No shame in that either. Very good resume but not strong compared to others.

To call him the best ever after beating a fighter who has been on the decline for a while now just don't add up.

 

Crawford turns 38 this month and has been a pro since 2008, starting out at lightweight. He’s unified all the belts in three divisions, then jumped up two weight classes and reduced Canelo to what we all saw. That’s not smoke and mirrors — that’s greatness.

People forget what other legends looked like at this stage. Leonard around the same time was getting handled by Norris and even Camacho. Roy Jones was getting sparked the moment he got touched after Ruiz. The closest thing to Crawford statistically is Mayweather — both unbeaten, both evolved as they climbed the weights. Only difference is we never really saw Crawford’s absolute peak because of the promoter politics holding him back. When he did land the fights, he won them handily.

Sure, if he carries on, some young gun will eventually get him — that’s boxing. But right now he’s in that same post-Ruiz Jones zone where you can legitimately argue he’s up there and could mix it with the greats of the past. Honestly, he’s closer to Usyk in that sense too — moving up, taking out bigger men, and making it look like he’s boxing a different sport.