FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: TERENCE CRAWFORD
But for me, I knew I could do it and I believed that I could do it. I just needed the opportunity.” What does it take to beat Canelo? Well, the Mexican superstar had lost just twice before – and only to two other greats. He was good but young, merely 23 when Floyd Mayweather topped him in 2013 at junior middleweight. He wasn’t so much outsized as he was outboxed by light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol in 2022. Others had come close, sometimes controversially so: Erislandy Lara at 154, Gennadiy Golovkin twice at 160. No one at 168. Not until Crawford. Not until that one night in September. “I knew I had Canelo when I asked for the fight,” Crawford said on former opponent Shawn Porter’s podcast. “You know how people say, ‘Oh, well he must see something.’ What I see is him fighting Lara, him fighting Caleb Plant, him fighting Mayweather, him fighting Bivol, all those styles – I’m capable of doing all those in one – and how frustrated that those fighters had him. I just knew my style was all bad for him.” The first three rounds at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas were slower in action but a high-skills chess match in actuality, tactical but tense. Crawford commanded the pace and the distance, not overly mobile but not very hittable either. Canelo wisely targeted the body, given that little else was available. If Canelo had even a glimmer of success, Crawford usually responded. Crawford furthered that approach in the fourth, letting loose with a combination after a solo shot from Canelo. He also wanted Canelo to retaliate, which would give Bud more chances to walk him into shots or catch him with counters. Canelo did land a few clean right hands in the round. None of them seemed to shake or otherwise concern Crawford, though
Even on the inside, Crawford more than held his own with power punches.
Plant and William Scull were able to do. Nor could ranked competitors John Ryder, Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. Another fighter who moved up in weight to try Canelo, then-undisputed junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo, lost a one-sided decision. David Benavidez was the most viable contender in the division, someone who fans and observers saw as a threat. Apparently Canelo did as well; Benavidez ultimately left the weight class, unable to land a fight. Crawford was not like the other super middleweights, however. He wasn’t even really a 168-pounder. Yes, there was the fact that he stood 5-foot-9, slightly taller than Canelo, though a height advantage hadn’t made a difference for the others. In every other way, Crawford was seen as the smaller man, moving up yet again
after being the Ring champion at 135, undisputed at 140 and 147, and winning a belt at 154. Why would he be able to succeed where others had failed? “All the odds are stacked against me,” Crawford told The Ring’s Tom Gray ahead of the match. “I’m the smaller guy coming up in weight. He’s the bigger guy who’s been knocking out bigger guys. To win a fight that people don’t think you’re capable of winning means everything.” Why would he be able to succeed? Precisely because he was not like the other super middleweights. Because Terence Crawford is the complete package, a superlative all- around fighter with an overflowing abundance of skills and smarts, technique and talent. Because he adds to that ridiculously
formidable combination by finding extra motivation, much as Michael Jordan did. He is driven by slights, a nitro booster added to the fuel tank of an already high-performing vehicle. Because Crawford is not just determined, but consumed by a need to prove his doubters wrong and himself right. He not only wants to win – he has to win, and he has the ability to do exactly what is necessary for victory. “When I set my sights on doing something and I know what I’m capable of, it’s not like a surprise to me,” Crawford said afterward. “It’s a surprise to y’all because y’all didn’t believe me.
Crawford scored clean shots on the bigger man throughout the fight.
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