Crawford makes case as GOAT of his era; Hatton, former Pacquiao foe, 46
LAS VEGAS—Terence Crawford is the kind of undefeated fighter you can attach the greatness label to and find little debate to the contrary.
He set out to prove that he is this era’s greatest fighter. Few listened.
So he picked a fight with a certified boxing power nearly three years his junior and certainly greater in name and in stature and made history in front of a record crowd of 70,482 on Saturday night.
They’re all hearing him now.
“I know what I’m capable of,” Crawford said, after defeating Canelo Alvarez to become the unified super-middleweight champion. “It’s not a surprise. It’s a surprise to y’all because you all didn’t believe in me.”
Better believe it: Crawford became the first male boxer to capture three unified division titles when he defeated Alvarez by unanimous decision.
Judges Tim Cheatham and Max DeLuca awarded Crawford (42-0, 31 knockouts) the match 115-113 and Steve Weisfeld 116-112. The Associated Press scored the fight 118-110 in favor of the 37-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska.
Crawford, who moved up two weight classes, went down to a knee even before the decision was announced and then wept after he was named the winner.
This was the first defeat for Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs), the 35-year-old champion from Mexico who looked like the older boxer even going against someone his junior, since losing by unanimous decision to Dmitry Bivol on May 7, 2022.
“We knew Crawford is a great fighter,” Alvarez said. “I did what I was supposed to do. I trained really hard. He deserved all the credit. I tried my best tonight and I couldn’t figure out the style.
“He had everything.”
The setting of Allegiant Stadium set the stage for the historic bout. Never in question was the attendance record for a Las Vegas fight—29,214 in 1982 for heavyweight champion Larry Holmes’ 13th-round knockout of Gerry Cooney at Caesars Palace—would fall on this night. So did the gate gross revenue record, the fight making $47.23 million.
Meanwhile, reports on Sunday revealed that Ricky Hatton, a former opponent of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, has died.
He was 46.
