Heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson has heaped praise on pound-for-pound superstar and current unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford, but the now 57-year-old has highlighted the one stumbling block in the way of ‘Bud’ becoming an all-time-great.
Crawford extended his record to 40-0 when he dominated and stopped long-term rival and fellow 147lb champion Errol Spence Jr to become undisputed welterweight champion and the first multi-divisional undisputed champion since the dawn of the four-belt era.
Unfortunately for the American, he has yet to step through the ropes since and as a result some fans felt he was pipped to the Fighter of the Year accolade by Naoya Inoue, despite the generational performance of Crawford.
The undefeated southpaw has now also been stripped of his IBF world title, with Jaron Ennis assuming the title, a decision which could prompt a move to super-welterweight or even super-middleweight after astonishing whispers of a clash with Canelo Alvarez.
In an interview with DAZN, Mike Tyson explained that despite Crawford’s success inside the ropes, to be a true all-time-great you need to become a superstar that can fill up arenas.
“Listen, this is the situation, this is the only argument against that [Crawford being an all-time-great], you know what makes people great fighters? Filling the arenas.
“Spence brought the people there. He [Crawford] is a master fighter but he has to get to the essence of fighting and that is excitement, bringing the people.
“He has got to keep beating people but he beats people too easily too. That could hurt him financially. I started making more money after Buster [Douglas] beat me, because people started saying ‘there is a possibility that he can get beat now’.”
Crawford has also been linked to a showdown with Teofimo Lopez, but the WBO super-lightweight champion’s below-par display last week could’ve put an end to those talks.