Terence Crawford calls himself ‘Bud’, but he may soon have to change that nickname to GOAT. If boxing is measured by eras, this one has two clear super champions and super class: Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk. Both have shown that skill takes precedence over punching power and in this way they have dethroned the respective champions. The American has been champion in five weights: lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, super welterweight and super middleweight. Pacquiao reached six if we only take into account the belts of the four main organizations (WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF).
In the four-belt era, there is only one boxer who has been undisputed in three divisions and that is Bud. It is true that he has just collected all the titles that Canelo Alvarez had in one fell swoop, but it is usual for this to happen. Usyk, the other great champion of the last decade, reigned at cruiserweight and is now the absolute heavyweight monarch for the second time. At the moment he even seems to have run out of big-name opponents to fight. The Ukrainian is, along with the Omaha veteran, the great reference at present. Both are also undefeated. Canelo’s achievements should not be underestimated either, as he has fought and won important battles despite the fact that his detractors always question him, and much of his merit is having fought much more than Usyk and Crawford in recent years.
“I’m not here by chance,” Crawford said after the fight, adding: “Canelo is a great champion. I take my hat off to him; he’s a great competitor and I have a lot of respect for him. He fought like a champion.” When asked if he would fight again, Terence replied: “I don’t know, I have to sit down with my team and we’ll talk about it.” Let’s hope he still has one or two fights left in him, although he is about to turn 38 years old. He was paid $50 million for this fight, enough to retire, but in the next fights he could exceed this figure.
Canelo was humble in defeat: “I feel great. I want to thank everyone who came to support me. I’m a winner for being here. The fact that I’m here makes me a winner. I take risks and that’s what I did”. He also praised Bud: “I feel great to share the ring with great fighters like him. If we do it again, it will be great. I have already achieved a lot in boxing. My legacy is already there and I like to take risks because I love boxing. I feel strong. Crawford is a great fighter, a skilled fighter.”
LIST OF UNDISPUTED MALE CHAMPIONS
- Terence Crawford (2017 super lightweight / 2023 welterweight / 2025 super middleweight)
- Oleksandr Usyk (2018 cruiserweight / 2024 and 2025 heavyweight)
- Naoya Inoue (2022 bantamweight / 2023 super bantamweight)
- Bernard Hopkins (2004 middleweight)
- Jermain Taylor (2005 middleweight)
- Josh Taylor (2021 super lightweight)
- Canelo Alvarez (2021 and 2025 super middleweight)
- Jermell Charlo (2022 super welterweight)
- Devin Haney (2022 lightweight)
- Artur Beterbiev (2024 light heavyweight)
- Dmitry Bivol (2025 light heavyweight)
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