NEW YORK ? Unified junior welterweight champion Terence ?Bud? Crawford thoroughly dominated another highly ranked contender Saturday at Madison Square Garden, which left those among the 8,026 in attendance and the million or so watching on HBO to ponder two reoccurring questions:
1. Where does Crawford, after another impressive victory, rank among the best fighters in boxing?
2. Who could possibly be next to challenge the champ, a great fighter who is still getting better?
Both make for great discussions. And at MSG this weekend, they were taking place long before Joel Diaz, the trainer for challenger Felix Diaz (no relation), pulled the plug on Saturday?s title bout after 10 rounds.
The answer to the first question is subjective. The criteria used to pick the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world for one person are likely different from those of another trying to make the same distinction.
Since the retirement of former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., no fewer than seven boxers have risen above all others in the discussion for best fighter: Andre Ward, Vasyl Lomachenko, Roman ?Chocolotito? Gonzalez, Sergey Kovalev, Gennady ?GGG? Golovkin, Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez and Crawford.
Gonzalez and Kovalev both suffered recent ? and controversial ? losses. That realistically takes both out of the discussion for the No. 1 spot. Many had previously anointed Gonzalez as Mayweather?s heir.
A strong argument can be made for each of the other five fighters, based on the selector?s preference. Ward is the most accomplished. Lomachenko may be the most naturally gifted. Golovkin is the most destructive. Crawford may be the most complete fighter. And Alvarez is currently boxing?s biggest star.
If one were to make a case for Crawford as the pound-for-pound No. 1, Alvarez and Lomachenko could quickly be dismissed because each has one professional loss. And Ward, though probably the most deserving of the top spot based on career achievement, was seen by many to have benefited from a controversial decision win in his light heavyweight title bout with Kovalev last November in Las Vegas.
That leaves a debate between Crawford and Golovkin for the top spot.
GGG, the unified middleweight champion, has a great knockout percentage, having stopped 33 foes in 37 fights. He steamrolled everyone until his last two bouts, when he was pushed early by welterweight Kell Brook then tested by Daniel Jacobs. Crawford, meanwhile, has barely lost a round as a 140-pound champion. On Saturday, Diaz was credited for winning one round on one judge?s scorecard.
Additionally, the Omahan has not only won crowns in two divisions (while Golovkin has in one), but he?s also become the lineal champion at 135 and 140. Alvarez is the lineal middleweight champion, earning that title when he beat the former one, Miguel Cotto, before moving back down to 154 pounds.
Using that logic, Crawford has as much of a claim to be considered the best fighter as anyone. The only thing missing from his near-flawless r?sum? is a victory over another pound-for-pound fighter.
Which brings about the second question: What kind of challenge is out there next for Crawford?
The matchup brought up the most is a showdown with aging future hall of famer Manny Pacquiao. Crawford even mentioned boxing?s only eight-division champion by name on HBO after his victory.
That bout would be perfect for the champ from Omaha, but still makes no sense for Pacquiao. Why fight a versatile young champion in his prime when you can handpick your foes until it?s time to retire?
Still, it?s a fight Top Rank?s Bob Arum, who promotes both, said he?d consider making down the road.
?Would Pacquiao and Crawford be a good fight, a big fight, a big attraction? You bet your ass it will,? he said. ?And we will, all things being equal, do our best to make that fight. I think the public wants to see it and the public will support it. … Everybody would love to see that fight, but that?s all I can say about it.?
But Arum said he plans to bring Crawford back for another bout this summer. And Pacquiao is already scheduled to fight unbeaten Jeff Horn in Australia on July 2. Crawford-Pacquiao, therefore, isn?t next.
What could be, however, is a showdown of unified junior welterweight champions pitting Crawford against Julius Indongo. The relatively unknown southpaw from Namibia burst onto the scene when he knocked out former IBF champion Eduard Troyanovsky in 40 seconds in Moscow last December. He then unified the belts not owned by Crawford by beating former WBA champ Ricky Burns in Scotland.
Top Rank Vice President Carl Moretti said preliminary talks for a battle for all four belts, which has occurred twice in the era of four sanctioning bodies, have begun but negotiations haven?t.
Crawford?s co-manager Cameron Dunkin said he thinks a bout with Indongo will come next, though the IBF stated that its new champion must make a mandatory defense of the title in his next outing.
Dunkin also told The World-Herald that he?s been contacted to gauge Crawford?s interest in a superfight with Cotto, who is searching for an opponent after his split with promoter Roc Nation.
Crawford-Cotto is nearly as intriguing as Crawford-Pacquiao, though it would likely have to take place at a catchweight much heavier (perhaps 150 pounds) than Crawford has fought before. Cotto is a former 140-pound champ, but he has spent seven years fighting at junior middleweight (154) or above.
Dunkin said he was going to bring up the idea of a bout with Cotto to Crawford after Saturday?s fight. The champ from Omaha has always said he?ll face anyone, but being an undisputed champ is a goal.
It was rare that Crawford mentioned potential opponents the way he did on HBO Saturday. But he said afterward that he meant it as no sign of disrespect. He?s just willing to square off with top guys.
?It ain?t necessarily calling them out,? said Crawford, 9-0 in title fights. ?It?s just (me) telling them that I?m ready for whoever. I?ve been saying that for years now. It?s not up to me.
?But everybody wants to know who?s the next guy Terence Crawford wants to fight. I?ll fight anybody. It don?t matter who it is.?
Arum said he knew Crawford was special after watching him in his HBO debut, when he moved up in weight to easily outclass Breidis Prescott. Now, the promoter said his goal is to get a meaningful fight.
?Crawford is going to fight this summer,? Arum said, implying he wouldn?t be waiting. ?If we can get the fight for the unification, that?s fine. But he?s going to fight this summer.
?I?m a (expletive) promoter. I?m going to get a fight that people want to see. And I?m going to put it on, and on a date that I want.?
Asked if making a unification bout with Indongo would be his preference for the next opponent, Arum indicated that it would.
?I would like to do that very much,? he said. ?I?m looking to do that this summer. We?re going to reach out to Indongo, who has the two other belts. We?d like to do a fight for four belts. And once (Crawford) gets all four belts, he?s going to fight Pacquiao.?
The lineal junior welterweight champ walked up just as Arum made his intentions public. And he agreed.
?That?s the plan,? Crawford said.
