Trainer Greg Hackett says a victory for Terence Crawford over Canelo Alvarez in 2025 would make him the best fighter in 30 years.
For Crawford to be seen as the best fighter of the last 30 years because he beat his best Canelo would be to ignore the many great fighters who have done much more than him.
We already know how Crawford will choose to fight Canelo using The Mayweather plan hitting and running. He’s not going to stand in front of Canelo and trade punches.
Terence will play it safe and make the fight boring all the time. Fans will be pissed that they are wasting their money by ordering the fight on PPV.
Hackett already considers Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) the No. 1 pound-for-pound contender to win world titles in four divisions and undisputed in two weight classes. It’s hard to agree with Hackett because Crawford’s wins in those four divisions weren’t against anyone special.
If you saw Canelo’s last two fights against Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia, you’ll know that at age 34, he’s past his prime. He is showing his age in his 19th year as a professional. The first two fights against Gennady Golovkin took a toll on Canelo and he hasn’t looked the same since.
Measuring Crawford’s legacy
Crawford is fair second Adrien Broner in that respect. Broner also won world titles in four weight classes, but his resume was as thin as Budd’s. It shows you how watered down the four alphabetical title divisions are for fighters to choose from to win belts with the help of their dodgy promoters.
Bud’s Best Wins
– Israel Madrimov
– Errol Spence
– Sean Porter
“Kel Brook.”
– Aamir Khan
– Yuriorkis Gamboa
– Ricky Burns
– Viktor Postol
You’d have to be simple minded to think those are good enough wins to make Crawford #1 p-4-p or the best fighter in 30 years. Based on those wins, I can only say that his promoters matched Crawford very carefully.
Those are NOT enough fighters to give Crawford credit for beating them because they were mostly over the hill when he fought them. Madrymov is the only one not shot, and he came close to defeating Crawford in his 12th pro fight.
If Crawford were to beat the fading 34-year-old Canelo, it wouldn’t make him the greatest in 30 years because he wouldn’t have the kind of wins the former six-division world champion has. Oscar De La Hoya or champion in eight divisions Manny Pacquiao have done during their careers. Those two are the best.
You can’t include Crawford because he fought weak opposition, same with Floyd Mayweather Jr. ‘Money Mai’ was too selective of the opposition he faced and spent too much time cherry-picking to preserve his precious O. Floyd was the catalyst for these generations of cherry pickers. He was a teacher.
“Tank is a beast, but I think pound-for-pound, Bud (Crawford) is No. 1. A lot of times people doubted him. They doubted him against (Errol) Spence. They doubted him against (Israel) Madrimov. Some people say it was too small. “I heard them,” Greg Hackett said ISM Sports Media on his belief that Terence Crawford should be No. 1 pound-for-pound.
“When he fought Victor Postol, he (Crawford) was too small. When he fought (Juriorkis) Gamboa, he didn’t know enough. It was a lot of shit. If he beats Canelo, he’s the worst mother in 30 years,” Hackett said of Terence.
“Right now in the game, it’s got to be Bud and then probably Inoue after that,” Hackett continued of his belief that Crawford should be the No. 1 pound-for-pound in the sport. “Bud, people don’t get it. He had been counted for a long time. He went on to win and beat a lot of dicks.
It is too early to say that Crawford will get the fight against Canelo in 2025. Nothing is official yet, and the chances are that Canelo will turn down the fight. It’s a no-win type of matchup for Canelo, as Crawford is getting more out of him than he is. If he beats Crawford, there is no real gain. Crawford beating Canelo would be huge and the payday would be huge too. The money alone is a win for Crawford.
Title boundaries
“Tank has always been 130, 135 pounds. People are trying to say Tank was 126 pounds,” Hackett said. “I fought a few cards with Tank. He never actually hit 126. I say Bud was kicking the s*** at 135, 140, 147, and he just won the belt at 154.
“Champion at 135, undisputed at 140 and 147, right? Then he won another belt at 154. He’s still undefeated,” Hackett said of Crawford. “A lot of steps, a lot of guys who should have beaten him. A lot of guys who should have been too big for him. Too fast, too hard. This one was supposed to be too experienced, and he beat them all. He gave Gamboa his first defeat.”
Again, winning four division world titles doesn’t mean Crawford is great because he didn’t beat anyone to win his four division titles.
Crawford wins in four divisions
– Israil Madrimov: 154
– Jeff Horn: 147
– Thomas Dulorme: 140
– Ricky Burns: 135
