Terence Crawford’s monumental win over Canelo Alvarez in September will go down as one of this century’s greatest triumphs, but such an achievement raises questions.
Becoming a three-weight undisputed champion will surely make Crawford a first-ballot Hall of Famer and places him in the conversation as one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Defeating the Mexican to capture all four super-middleweight world titles is unlikely to throw Crawford into the mix as one of the greatest 168-pounders, however. That particular debate features men such as Joe Calzaghe — and the Welshman shared his thoughts on Crawford’s win ahead of an appearance at Paddy’s Sportsbook at The Hippodrome Casino for Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn II on November 15.
“I think what he did was great, but I think a lot of it’s down to Canelo.”
One argument many believe aided Crawford’s victory is the recent decline of Canelo. While that shouldn’t detract from the American’s brilliance on the night, it doesn’t qualify Crawford, in Calzaghe’s eyes, to have lived with a super-middleweight great such as Roy Jones Jr.
“I think you can’t really put a peak Roy Jones in with … people making a point of, would [Crawford] have beaten a peak Roy Jones? Come on, man. No, I think he’s done great, going up in weight. He’s a great fighter, he’s a great fighter, Terence Crawford. But I don’t know.
“One fight against Canelo, who I didn’t think really turned up that night – I don’t know. You can make a point, I suppose, because he just beat Canelo, but I just don’t think Canelo’s the fighter he was, judging on that.”
Calzaghe admitted to being impressed with Crawford and believed he fought the right fight against Canelo, whom he described as “flat-footed.”
“He [Canelo] didn’t really throw any punches, he’s flat-footed. But [Crawford] did well. But putting him in the best super middleweights ever, I’m not sure about that.”