Crawford (R) Took It To Canelo (L)
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
Doubt is an element of life that can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how you compartmentalize it, and for Terence Bud Crawford, it’s been everything he’s needed to achieve his dreams. Most of the Nebraska native’s career has been shadowed by the narrative of what he would be unable to accomplish, but after last Saturday night in Las Vegas, those who continuously tried to rain on Crawford’s parade, can watch him celebrate as the newly crowned king of the Boxing world.
Numerous times throughout the history of Boxing, certain fighters have gotten the benefit of the doubt when it comes to narrow decisions on the outcomes of fights, think Timothy Bradley and all the gifts he was given from judges. Terence Crawford knew full well stepping into the ring in his last half a dozen bouts, he would face opposition to his rise to fame from judges and boxing media alike. Therefore, he had no option to leave little to no controversy against the likes of Kell Brook, Errol Spence, and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
The slightest bit of controversy would have seen Bud Crawford cemented into the category of great, but not legendary, as his opponents to greatness would question his resume and his dominance in those wins. Crawford did the exact opposite. Those who thought he could not repeat “the night of his life” against Errol Spence, at that time the best performance of his career, were in for a shock against the iconic Saul Canelo Alvarez.
In the three biggest fights of his Boxing life, two of them were knockouts, against Kell Brook and Errol Spence, to be followed by a complete domination of what some thought was the pound-for-pound best in the world in Alvarez, last Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Going up two weight classes above the heaviest Crawford has ever fought in, Bud completely dominated one of the best fighters in the history of the sport, showing the world a whole new level nobody knew he had.
Known as the greatest switch hitter in boxing for switching from orthodox to southpaw flawlessly, Crawford didn’t even need to go into his bag of tricks against Alvarez. Crawford dazzled with his foot speed and matched Canelo’s power on every punch, in fact, superseded it. There were questions abound before the fight about the handling of Canelo’s powers but it was Crawford who had his opponents head snapping backward.
Following a painful night, Canelo Alvarez gave Terence Crawford his credit, and spoke of a possible rematch, while Terence Crawford celebrated on one knee in the ring holding back tears while his team beamed from happiness behind him. Choked up, Crawford thanked the crowd and began holding and hoisting his newest championship belts, as the Super Middleweight Champion of the World and the greatest fighter of this modern era.
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