Crawford Stuns Canelo For Historic Third Undisputed Victory
Terence Crawford jumped up two weight classes to dethrone Canelo Alvarez by unanimous decision and become the Undisputed super-middleweight World Champion in Las Vegas.
‘Bud’ wrote his name into the boxing history books with a masterful performance at Allegiant Stadium, as he became the first men's fighter to become a three-division Undisputed champion in the four-belt era.
Crawford’s career-best victory also sees him reign as a five-weight World Champion, only the sixth male to achieve this feat, joining legends Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr on that illustrious list.
The Omaha-native began his career at lightweight and later became a dominant force at welterweight, with his Undisputed win over rival Errol Spence Jr capping off a 100% knockout record in the division.
A successful move up to light-middleweight followed last year, beating Israil Madrimov to earn a fourth division title, but ‘Bud’ has now cemented his legacy as an all-time great by overcoming Canelo too.
Crawford’s decision triumph means he’s only the third man to beat Canelo in his 20-year career, adding to Mayweather in 2013 and Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
With no catchweights and no rehydration clauses involved, many downplayed Crawford’s chances to overcome Canelo, who had reigned at 168 pounds since 2020 and previously held belts at light-heavyweight as well.
But Crawford’s clinical display proved doubters wrong, rallying to a legacy-defining success in front of a record 70,482 fans in Sin City.
Silencing the detractors with a focused boxing clinic, ‘Bud’ never really looked uncomfortable despite the natural size disparity, and he was willing to stay in close quarters with the Mexican many times throughout proceedings.
It was Crawford’s elite abilities from both orthodox and southpaw stances that ultimately earned him a historic win, outlanding Canelo over the championship distance and adding to the long-standing old-school notion of ‘skills over size’.
As 'Bud' added the final strokes to his 12-round masterpiece, there was still a lingering feeling of unease before the scorecards were officially read out – due to Canelo’s long-standing superstar reputation.
In the end, the judges may have called the clash closer than it should have been, but the right man had his hand raised, with Crawford getting the nod by margins of 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113.
"I'm not here by coincidence,” stated Crawford after his famous decision victory.
"Canelo is a great champion, I have to take my hat off to him, he's a great competitor, and I have great respect for him. He fought like a champion.”
Asked whether he will ever fight again after his colossal win (a fair question given the magnitude of his latest feat), he replied: "I don't know, I've got to sit down with my team and we'll talk about it.
"I want to say thank you to all the supporters and the haters. I appreciate you all. Shout out to my fans and those supporting Canelo. We get to go home to our children."
Now 42-0, a five-weight World Champion and a three-division undisputed ruler, Crawford has not only supremely secured his legacy as this era’s best, but catapulted himself from generational great into boxing’s all-time pantheon.
Header image: AP