Terence Crawford is the best active boxer in the world because he can do everything.
If he wants to box, he can box. If he wants to become a hunter, he can hunt better than anyone. The Omaha, Nebraska native can be a tactician, a technician, southpaw, orthodox, an offensive beast, a boxer-puncher, a mauling spoiler, and any variation or combination of the above.
What ?Bud? Crawford can?t do, however, is beat up and defeat the handcuffing nature of the boxing business.
When the three-division world champ and current WBO welterweight titlist re-upped with Top Rank, grabbing at the lucrative (reported 8-figure) deal to make him the cornerstone of ESPN?s reinvigorated boxing presence, there were some professional sacrifices he had to make.
Signing with Top Rank/ESPN meant separating himself from just about all of the big legacy fights he?d need to become a next-level star. Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia (among others) are all signed with powerful manager/advisor Al Haymon and working with the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) brand which has exclusive deals with Showtime and Fox.
That cold, hard truth is that, maybe, Crawford will not be able to fight any of the current top welterweights. And that reality, along with the criticism sure to come for a great not fighting greats, is the price to be paid for Crawford?s career decision. Ultimately, though, boxing for a pro is a means to provide for one?s family, so it?s a pretty safe bet that Crawford is very happy with where his career is going right now.
Last Saturday night at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Crawford once again established the fact that he can do just about anything he wants in the ring.
An awkwardly big Jose Benavidez Jr., who had spent much of the lead-in to his fight with Crawford trying to get inside the head of the defending champ, was slowly nullified, picked apart, and then put away in the final seconds of the contest. Crawford, who had every right to be raging mad and careless in trying to deliver a comeuppance to the young, obnoxiously cocksure challenger, instead exhibited a calm, patient, and supremely professional approach to this first defense of his WBO 147 lb. strap.
If he had wanted to throw caution to the wind and devour Benavidez early on in the contest, he probably could?ve done so. But the masters not only win, they also analyze and evaluate to come up with the best way to win. And, yes, Crawford is a master. He may be a master without a truly defining fight or opponent on his r?sum?, but he?s a master nonetheless. Anyone who knows boxing clearly sees his mastery.
The problem is that while most fight fans appreciate master-level virtuosos, they?re watching because they want fights. Top Rank will be tasked with the increasingly difficult job of wrangling up reasonable opponents for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and then trying to manufacture some sort of rivalry to sell this ?B-Side? who simply won?t be good enough to beat or even be competitive with Crawford.
Unless some sort of building-of-bridges deal can be made with the PBC folks, it?s hard to envision a scenario where a prime Crawford ever fights anyone at 147 good enough to push him or make him fight from behind.
As I wrote elsewhere:
??all things considered, each and every Terence Crawford fight is a joy to watch. In the absence of war, a virtuoso performance from a master is the next best thing.?
Unfortunately, a fighter is defined by his battles and not necessarily by his virtuoso status. It would be tragic if one of the best fighters of this generation never got a chance to prove his greatness.
