‘He’s way better than Mayweather’: Crawford hailed by Canelo after signature win | Terence Crawford
After putting two divisions on a scale to outclass Canelo Álvarez for the undisputed Movy weight championship before a record crowd on Saturday evening, Terence Crawford did not waste time calling it the decisive performance of an already brilliant career.
“It is definitely a signature victory,” Crawford told journalists afterwards. “Mount two weight categories, be the B side, fighting a guy who was undefeated in the indisputable division, taking all his titles, doing everything I said that I was going to do. Of course, that means a lot.”
Asked when he knew he would beat Álvarez, the laconic crawford did not miss a beat. “When he signed the contract,” he said, drawing laughter from the room. But the liners were accompanied by a deeper insistence that this result was not an accident. “When I put my goal of doing something and I know what I am capable of, it’s not like a surprise for me,” he said. “It’s a surprise for you, because you didn’t believe me. But for me, I knew I could do it. I just needed the opportunity. ”
Crawford described the first laps as controlled rather than prudent. “I felt like I was in control,” he said. “I think he was trying to understand me.” When Álvarez succeeded with punching the body, Crawford brushed them. “He did not hit the body or anything. He was hitting my elbow because I was blocking him.”
The sixth round, when Crawford started standing and landed with left hands, marked the moment when he felt the balance moved. “Around the sixth round, I felt as if I had to intensify it a little more and take more control over the fight, because the fight took place as a rocking effect,” he said. From there, he became more confident, smiling even at the best shots of Canelo in the late towers.
A large part of the accumulation had concentrated on the question of whether Crawford, who had fought at 147 pounds or below in all the previous 41 fights except a before Saturday evening, could manage the power of Canelo. He was disdainful. “I was stronger,” he said, citing Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who briefly injured him in 2019. “[Kavaliauskas] Strong stronger than Canelo, for me, to be honest. »»
When he was told that Álvarez seemed to fade in the later towers, Crawford refused to reduce his opponent. “It was prepared for 1,000%. I just think I was the best man today. ”
Álvarez, for his part, did not offer any excuse after presented himself for a press conference that most would have understood if he had exploded. “We knew that Crawford is a big fighter … I did my best tonight, and I just couldn’t understand the style. You have to take the loss and accept everything,” he said. Later, he added, almost with regret: “Sometimes you try and your body cannot go. It is my frustration … My body left me left.”
The victory made Crawford the first male boxer in the era with four-cerit to become indisputable in three divisions, a success previously equaled only by Henry Armstrong in 1938. “It means a lot for me, because anyone can be no one,” said Crawford. “That’s all they say that I fought, these are the Nobodies. So what can they say now? Someone tells me, what can you say now? “
Crawford insisted that he had only respect for Canelo. “He is a big champion. He is a strong competitor,” he said. “As I said before, I only have respect for Canelo. I am a big fan of Canelo and he fought like a champion today.” Álvarez even made the compliment with striking admission: “I think Crawford is much better than Floyd Mayweather.”
As for his own place in history, Crawford has rejected inevitable comparisons. “Floyd was the largest of his time. I am the largest of my time. It is not necessary to compare myself to Floyd or Floyd for me.”
And then, the fighter who built a career by being underestimated, ended with a reminder that the justification concerned both skeptics and believers. “Those who doubted me, they know it,” he said. “I don’t have to say that I told you or rub it on their face. This is where I told you. ”
