To me, beating a prime, top 10 p4p fighter (not to mention when you yourself are past prime) trumps everything crawford and kovalev did. Just imo
1. Roman 2. Ruenroeng 3. Crawford 4. Pacquiao 5. Kovalev 6. Walters Naoya Inoue if he beats Narvaez in fashion will have conquered the #1 fighters at 108 and 115 and easily will deserve the nod.
If Richar Abril had beaten all the same fighters as Crawford had this year- which he would've done- he wouldn't have even been mentioned by the American media as a candidate.
Perhaps not by the US media but Abril, in your scenario, would be mentioned as a strong candidate by almost every real boxing fan out there which is why Crawford instead is being mentioned.