STEVE’S SOAPBOX
NO “TBE” IS SAFE By Steve Kim
EXCELLENCE IN CARE STARTS HERE
I n the immediate aftermath of Terence Crawford’s watershed victory over Canelo Alvarez on September 13, “Bud” has been bathed in accolades. And why not? His latest conquest made him a three-time undisputed champion and he put in his claim – a strong one, at that – as the best boxer of the post- Mayweather generation. It’s gotten to a point where some are even putting him in their all-time great lists, which may seem far-fetched, given that Crawford only has 42 bouts on his record, despite having won titles of
various sorts from 135 to 168. He did skip the middleweight class, but there is a chance he could try and win a belt at 160. Regardless, can a guy who has less than 50 fights on his ledger really be ranked alongside the likes of Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, much less Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali and Archie Moore? It reminds you of the story where Sugar Ray Leonard (who had a career mark of 36-3-1 with 25 KOs) asked legendary matchmaker Teddy Brenner how he compared to Robinson (174-19- 6 with 109 KOs to his credit), to which Brenner replied that he could give a better opinion when Leonard had about 200 more fights. This isn’t to disparage Crawford or any other modern-day boxer, but the reality is that they don’t fight nearly as often as their predecessors. And with that, it’s much more difficult to truly assess their place among the all-
timers who were forced to go through a more diverse set of opponents over time. Personally, I give credit to fighters who fought more and gave us more evidence of their greatness through more scenarios. But Hall-of-Famer Tim Bradley is a believer, regardless of how many fights are on his record. To him, Bud is among the greats. “I think Crawford’s skill is legendary, period,” said Bradley during an appearance on The 3 Knockdown Rule with Mario Lopez and yours truly a few weeks after Alvarez-Crawford. “I
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Some say “Bud” is on the same level as “Money” – or even above.
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