Canelo Álvarez: 'I Respect Terence Crawford' but Only Has 1 Big Win over Errol Spence
September 4, 2023
Canelo Álvarez seemed to question Terence Crawford's credentials as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
In an interview with TMZ Sports, Álvarez said that "I respect" Crawford, but the undisputed welterweight champion "just won one big fight."
"If you see his record, he just beat one good fighter in Errol Spence," Canelo said. "Other than that, I don't think he's beaten other great fighters like Spence."
Crawford ran his record to a perfect 40-0 with a ninth-round TKO of Spence in July. It was a comprehensive victory for the 35-year-old American.
To Álvarez's point, running down Crawford's list of wins doesn't yield a who's who of boxing royalty, but that requires some context.
ESPN's Mike Coppinger and Ben Baby noted after the Spence fight how Crawford tried and failed for years to schedule the kind of matchups that would legitimize his pound-for-pound status. It's symptomatic of an issue that's plagued boxing for years; backstage politics have prevented a number of marquee events from coming to fruition.
Crawford can only beat the people in front of him, and it's not entirely his fault if the best of the best aren't willing to step to the plate.