Wearing a tan mesh vest, denim shorts and a dark sun hat, Terence Crawford savoured the hero’s welcome in his hometown Omaha. The 35-year-old American had lived up to his reputation of being a generational fighter, becoming the first male boxer to be crowned the undisputed champion in two weight divisions in the four-belt era.
Even as he luxuriated in the afterglow of his welterweight unification bout win over Errol Spence Jr. during the victory parade, Crawford’s thoughts turned to the odds he had overturned in reaching boxing’s pinnacle.
The overachiever
“Little kid from Omaha. Overachiever. I always say I’m an overachiever because my dream was just to win one title. Now I’m on top of Mount Rushmore,” he told the adoring crowd.
“It’s always possible. The hard work, dedication and belief, anything is possible, and I’m a living testimony to that. A lot of people told me I wasn’t going to become nothing. And half of y’all thought I was gonna be dead or in jail. But you know, I’m glad I turned my life around for the best. And like I say, it ain’t how you start the race, it’s always how you finish it.”
Crawford’s race is anything but finished, but he is in a position few have achieved. He is currently ranked the world’s best active boxer, pound for pound, by The Ring magazine, Boxing Writers Association of America, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, ESPN and BoxRec.
The fight against Spence had a lot riding on it — including bragging rights for the boast of being the greatest in history. It was the most anticipated boxing match in several years, compared in many corners to other classic welterweight matchups such as the two between Robert Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980, Leonard and Thomas Hearns the following year, Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez in 1993 and Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya in 2000.
Former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson thought the potential of the Crawford-Spence clash transcended the weight division. “I haven’t seen things like this in over 30 years — two of the best fighters in the world to decide who is truly the best,” he said.
None of this was lost on Crawford, who saw the fight in glitzy Las Vegas as a legacy-defining bout. “How do we measure greatness? We measure greatness by eras. We had the Sugar Ray Robinson era, we had the [Muhammad] Ali era, the Marvin Hagler, the Tommy Hearns, you had the Floyd Mayweather, his era. [By defeating Spence] I’m gonna show each and every one of y’all why this era is the Terence Crawford era…”
In the end, the fight itself didn’t match the hype — but Crawford’s performance exceeded it. He knocked Spence down three times before finally ending matters at 2:32 of the ninth round on a technical knockout to cement himself as one of the greatest welterweights in history.
The fight made Crawford the first undisputed champion in the 147-pound division in the four-belt era that began in 2004. Crawford (40-0, 31 knockouts) already owned the WBO belt, and took the WBC, WBA and IBF titles from Spence (28-1). A knockout machine, he also ran his KO streak to 11 matches, the second-longest active stretch. The undisputed welterweight title adds to the belts he had won at the super lightweight (undisputed) and lightweight divisions.
A cultural moment
Crawford’s victory didn’t just make boxing history, it also created a moment of pop culture.
A big fight night on the Strip still brings out the rich and famous, with recording artist Andre 3000, rapper Lil Wayne, NBA star Damian Lillard and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at T-Mobile Arena. They were among the celebrities that also included former boxing champions such as Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Crawford was introduced by reclusive rap superstar Eminem, whose iconic song ‘Lose Yourself’ played as the boxer walked to the ring before a sellout crowd of 19,990.
Crawford’s win was another reminder of his remarkable resilience. Fifteen years ago, he survived a stray gunshot to the head after being caught in the wrong place with the “wrong crowd”. The bullet reportedly hit him from behind when he was sitting in his car. Despite the loss of blood, he was able to drive himself to a hospital where he was treated.
“A lot of people who get shot at in the head don’t survive, let alone be able to have all the faculties that I do,” Crawford told Tyson on the latter’s podcast, Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson.
The 35-year-old bruiser, because of where he has risen from, has always had a broad perspective about his sport and life, in general.
Talking about a boxer’s life in 2019, Crawford said, “All those people that criticise boxers … have never had the pleasure of getting knocked upside the head for 12 rounds. It’s not fun. Boxers go in the ring one person and leave a different person. You go home, eat your popcorn, talk to your family and say, ‘Oh, that was a great fight,’ but it was a great fight for you to watch. You don’t think about the fighters that went through hell to entertain you.”
Setting an example
This perspective grounds Crawford, who is known in Omaha for giving back to the community. He is aware of his status as a role model and believes his success can inspire others from difficult backgrounds to reach for the stars. So, while the championship-winning southpaw’s legacy is secure, he isn’t resting on his laurels.
A rematch against Spence is one option for his next fight. Spence wants to box in the 154-pound division and Crawford has no problem moving up a weight class. “I’m in the hurt business,” Crawford said. “[One-]forty-seven is kind of hard for me, too. I was already talking about moving up in weight and challenging [current undisputed light middleweight champion Jermell] Charlo.”
Another ‘dream bout’ is a showdown against Mexican great Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, who holds the undisputed super middleweight crown — it’s a matchup Crawford had refused to contemplate earlier because “Canelo is two, three, even four weight classes above me”, but after the win over Spence, the history-maker suggested he was open to a catchweight fight with Alvarez.
Alvarez, interestingly enough, is taking on Charlo in Las Vegas next month, so boxing fans will have to wait to see how the future shapes up. However the chips fall, you can be certain of one thing: Crawford will be betting on himself to make it 41-0.
