There is a difference between good fighters and elite fighters. At least, that is what Canelo Alvarez reckons. It’s not just his opinion either.

Paro vs Papot | THURSDAY 18 SEPT 7PM AEST | Liam Paro’s quest to recapture gold continues, as he moves up in weight to take on undefeated Frenchman David Papot, with the winner set up to compete for the IBF Welterweight Title. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.

“I just said facts,” the Mexican superstar, who of course considers himself “elite”, told Ring Magazine earlier in the year.

So, if Alvarez is indeed elite, what now? What after Terence Crawford, as he has done his entire career, continued to prove people wrong?

This, after all, was a fighter who entered Sunday with a 41-0 record and as a two-division undisputed champion.

But Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue had also done that. And who did those 41 wins come against?

Not elite fighters, as Alvarez at least would claim.

Max Kellerman put it best when posing a question to Crawford after he dominated Alvarez on his way to a unanimous decision to become the first man to win undisputed titles in three weight divisions.

Although it wasn’t so much a question as a reminder to Crawford. Not that he needed it. He had heard it all before.

“I can’t remember another fighter whose legacy hinged so much, this deep into their career, on one night,” Kellerman said.

“Had you lost, people would have said, ‘Well, first time he fought a great fighter. He couldn’t do it’. But you won and now, in this moment, if you never fight again this generation will say about you what the last one said about Floyd and what generations ago said about Sugar Ray Robinson.

“They’ll say no one could have beaten our guy.”

REACTION: Boxing in awe of Crawford’s ‘fight of the century’ clinic as cards stun

This was Terence Crawford’s crowning moment. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix)Source: Getty Images

And few fighters could have beaten Crawford on Sunday. That was how clinical he was. The scorecards didn’t reflect it, with two judges having it 115-113, but it never really felt that close.

Crawford outlanded Alvarez 115-99 in total punches and 45-16 in jabs. He also seemed to have more power behind his punches. This was despite all the talk about the size difference between the two fighters as Crawford moved up two divisions to challenge the Mexican.

But again, all the talk is something Crawford has become accustomed to. Good friend and Hall of Famer Andre Ward, in commentary for Netflix on Sunday, had heard it too.

“I’ve seen his journey throughout his career and I’ve seen one accomplishment after the next. I’ve seen questions be asked of him,” Ward said.

“Is he a draw? Does he have a personality? He’s only fighting these types of fighters. He doesn’t have a signature win.

“All he’s done was just answer that doubt with more victories, more professionalism and I think we can learn something from Crawford. Not just the Xs and Os.

“We have to stop putting fighters in a box thinking you’re only entertaining if you do this. You can only excite me if you fight this type of way. Terence Crawford truly did it his way.

“A lot of people were wrong.”

Paro reveals big dreams for world stage | 06:35

Now Crawford, having cemented his legacy as one of the greatest to ever do it in this generation, has an opportunity to write the final chapter of his fairytale career.

So, will he? Well, Crawford wasn’t divulging too much immediately after Sunday’s fight, leaving the possibility of retiring open but not closing the door on continuing on either.

But if this is the end?

“He’s done everything that he wanted to do,” Ward said.

“He’s a three-time undisputed champion who jumped two, maybe three-weight classes depending on how you look at it against a great fighter like Canelo Alvarez. At this point in his life and career, the debate is over.”

For what it’s worth, Crawford did seem to understand the gravity of Sunday’s fight, telling The Associated Press it was an opportunity to cement his position as an “all-time great”.

“Terence Crawford’s legacy, you know, pre-Canelo fight — he’s a Hall of Famer, first ballot, period,” Crawford said.

“Terence Crawford defeating Canelo Alvarez, I mean, he’s one of the all-time greats, period.

“(This is) the greatest of all the fights that I done fought. This is the one.”

It was perhaps an even greater performance than his demolition job of Errol Spence Jr. in 2023 and like Alvarez, he too was critical of Crawford’s resume before that fight declaring “Terence hasn’t fought anybody”.

What will the critics say now? (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix)Source: Getty Images

It was supposed to be the fight that put Spence on a collision course to fight Alvarez. Instead, it ended up being the other way around.

It wasn’t necessarily a fight Crawford needed. He didn’t really have anything to prove. But Crawford said earlier in the week it was a fight he had been thinking about before he moved up to 154 pounds.

He had knocked out everyone in his path at 147 during an eight-fight surge from 2018 to 2023 before moving up and outclassing Israil Madrimov by a unanimous decision to win the WBA title.

Alvarez presented a new challenge. A shot at history. But he had to fight for it — literally.

“He’s been asking for this fight for two years now behind the scenes,” boxing journalist Mark Kriegel said on Sunday’s coverage.

“He finally got it. He’s as good as he imagined himself to be. He’s as good as he believed himself to be.

“This was a rebuke to promoters who didn’t promote him adequately, to promoters who didn’t furnish him with worthy opponents. This is for guys who didn’t want to fight him, for guys who doubted him.

“This was a very explicit rebuke across the whole distance of his career, going back to Omaha. Where are you from, Omaha? They box there?

This was a clinic. (AP Photo/David Becker)Source: AP

“This was for everybody starting there and he’s used that chip on his shoulder and now, this is the crowning moment and it comes at the end.

“I mean, whether it’s his last fight or not, he’s basically 38 years old, and he has not just made boxing history but he’s defied it.”

Defied his doubters along the way too and according to Kellerman, there is no argument now that Crawford will go down as the “best pound-for-pound fighter” of this generation.

He just needed his chance to prove it.

“Every era has their guy that you can’t tell anyone from that era anything about,” Kellerman said.

“We lived through Michael Jordan. Try telling anyone who did that that LeBron James is better and those who live through LeBron James, there will be another guy (who will) come around in 20 years and try to tell them that.

Paro out to make a statement in WW debut | 01:50

“Bud Crawford is that to this era of boxing and I want to go back and reevaluate the last 10, 12 years of boxing.

“I think of Bernard Hopkins at middleweight, who made all those title defences but was locked out of the big fights. Couldn’t unify the titles. As soon as he was given the chance, and by the way, became Ring Magazine champion.

“What that really showed is retroactively he was always the best. He just didn’t have the opportunity to prove it. Looking back at Bud Crawford’s career, it is reasonable to say, and I believe it — he has been the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing now for a dozen years.

“Almost no one who has ever lived has ever done that. It puts him in rarefied air.”