Terence Crawford retired as the best pound for pound boxer of his time in the sport after one heck of a win over Canelo Alvarez.
He stepped up to super-middleweight to do so to out point and out class the Mexican boxing star and former number one pound for pound Canelo.
Last year in September 2015 in Las Vegas.
Speaking on what the moment meant to him recently Crawford said:
“Before they even announced it, I already knew I won because of the body of work I put in. I was thinking about the whole journey — a flash of my career. Knowing this was it, the emotions just flared up. It was about proving everybody wrong — all the people who doubted me from when I was a little kid.”
Crawford’s win was one of the great instances of a boxer moving up in weight to become a champion in a high weight class he was not used to.
Here are some other case studies and research from boxing history on similar big ones like that for those new to the sport or for those who need a reminder:
- Roy Jones over Ruiz (2003): Light-heavyweight champ moved to heavyweight and won a title—historic audacity.
- Spinks over Holmes (1985): Light-heavyweight champ moved to heavyweight and handed Holmes his first loss.
- Leonard over Hagler (1987): Retired, moved up to middleweight, and split-decisioned the fearsome Hagler.
- Armstrong over Ross (1938): Jumped from featherweight to welterweight (skipped lightweight) to win a third title.
- Pacquiao’s whole run: Won titles in 8 divisions—the gold standard for weight-jumping greatness.
- Canelo over Kovalev (2019): Moved up from middleweight to light heavyweight and stopped the bigger Kovalev.
All in all, Nebraska’s Terence Crawford has said he will stay retired for now but who knows what the future holds for him.
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