Following on from a sensational win last July, Terence Crawford was almost unanimously crowned as the pound-for-pound greatest fighter in the sport. Yet, generational displays from his pound-for-pound rivals since, coupled with the inactivity of the undefeated American, has seen opinions altered and even ‘Bud’ himself has admitted his belief that the mantel belongs to a different man.
In his lone performance of 2023, Crawford knocked out long-term rival Errol Spence Jr. to claim the undisputed welterweight title in what was one of the most jaw-dropping performances since the turn of the millennium.
In the eyes of many, the one-sided fashion of the beating placed Crawford above Japan’s Naoya Inoue in the pound-for-pound rankings, despite Inoue’s similar demolition of Stephen Fulton just a few days earlier.
However, Inoue has gone on to become a two-division undisputed title with a knockout win over Marlon Tapales in a bout that ultimately saw him awarded with the 2023 Fighter of the Year award.
‘The Monster’ then defended his titles against Luis Nery where he was dropped for the first time but recovered to stop the Mexican in the sixth-round – reminding fight fans that he should be considered as the sport’s greatest fighter.
Although, in an interview with Seconds Out, Crawford declared that Oleksandr Usyk is the man worthy of being lauded as the pound-for-pound king, admiring the Ukrainian’s victory over Tyson Fury – which saw him become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 and the first of the four-belt era.
“It [pound-for-pound] is an opinion. Usyk is a great fighter and he has done great things in the sport of boxing. I always felt as if Fury was already at his ceiling, he couldn’t go up or go down in weight-classes. For Usyk to go up in weight-classes and still do what he did, that is pound-for-pound in my eyes.”
Like Inoue, Usyk has fought twice since Crawford’s last appearance, first knocking out Daniel Dubois before overcoming a near 40-pound weight differential to put an end to the reign ‘The Gypsy King’ in an instant heavyweight classic contest that showed the grit and mentality required of a true champion.
The achievement also saw Usyk become just the second fighter in history to hold the undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight titles during his career, joining Evander Holyfield in an extremely elite club that is unlikely to welcome too many new members any time soon.
Usyk will rematch Fury in December and look to further cement his status as the greatest fighter of this era, but he may yet be removed from his pedestal as the pound-for-pound number one, if Crawford can produce another strong performance this weekend.
Crawford challenges WBA super-welterweight champion Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles with the hope of become a four-weight world champion. They top a phenomenal card that can be watched via DAZN pay-per-view, with all details regarding fight night available here.
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