Terence Crawford's win over Errol Spence Jr. this past weekend meant a lot of things. For starters, he had unified the welterweight division for the first time in history. He also cemented himself as the greatest 147-pounder of today's generation. And to add the cherry on top, in the eyes of many observers, Crawford also cemented himself as the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world today. It's unfortunate as Naoya Inoue should have been holding that unofficial crown for much longer, especially after what he achieved last week — but given the timing as well as the manner of Terence Crawford's win, it's all but clear that “Bud” sits atop the pound-for-pound ranks.
Let's rewind back to last Wednesday. Inoue had knocked out Stephen Fulton in the eighth round to become the new WBC and WBO junior featherweight champion. It was his first fight at 122 pounds and despite being undersized, he became a four-division champion by not only beating arguably the best junior featherweight in the world in the previously undefeated Fulton, but dominating and finishing him. Having already unified the bantamweight division in December, the Japanese superstar is now one win over Marlon Tapales away from completely unifying a second. All this highlights Inoue's claim as the pound-for-pound king, but then you add in his phenomenal record — he is 25-0 with an impressive 20-0 record in title fights and 18 of those wins coming by way of knockout. It's tough to beat that given the landscape of boxing today.
However, there was one potential downside for Inoue and that was recency bias. Inoue's win over Fulton came on Wednesday — the same week Crawford and Spence were set for their historic welterweight title unification clash over the weekend. If Inoue was getting his flowers and being regarded as the pound-for-pound king, it seemed like it would only be for a matter of a few days given the massive welterweight showdown. Now for most, Crawford was already No. 1 in their pound-for-pound lists and even if he had been demoted to No. 2 thanks to Inoue, a win over Spence — who many had as No. 4 — would have been enough to see him deservedly return to the top. It would have been harsh on Inoue, but at least he'd have the consolation of being No. 1 in some lists.
That seems unlikely now given how Crawford defeated Spence.
“Bud” didn't just edge him in a close and competitive contest — he outright dominated and battered Spence, making him look like he didn't belong in the same ring. Spence, who had never been knocked down before, hit the canvas three times against Crawford, twice in one round as well. He was bloodied and bruised as he kept taking punishment throughout. In the end, the referee mercilessly stopped the contest in the ninth round with Crawford now definitively reigning as the undisputed welterweight champion of the world. It was a surreal sight to see and opened the world's eyes — especially his doubters — on just how good Crawford really was.
Spence didn't even offer any excuses on the night as he admitted Crawford was the better man.
“He was the better man tonight,” Spence said post-fight. “He was using his jab, and my timing was a little bit off. He was catching me in between shots. … I make no excuses.”
Leading up to the fight, Crawford stated his belief that the winner of the fight would be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world over Inoue and a big reason was the fact that Fulton was not on the pound-for-pound list unlike themselves. Crawford would reiterate this in the post-fight press conference.
“Without a doubt,” Crawford said when asked if he was the pound-for-pound king (via Boxing Scene). “Like I told everybody once before, the winner out of this fight was gonna be number one pound-for-pound, hands down. You got Errol Spence, was ranked number four in the pound-for-pound. And you got Terence Crawford – I was ranked number one.
“So, you got two fighters that’s in the top five pound-for-pound ratings. How can [the winner] not be number one pound-for-pound?”
Given his performance and the very good and valid point about Fulton, it's hard to argue against Crawford. Especially when you consider the fact that former light heavyweight champion Andre Ward also rose the top of many pound-for-pound lists when he beat a fellow list member in Sergey Kovalev.
It's unfortunate for Inoue, but even he may agree that after Crawford's performance over Spence this past Saturday night, there's only one true pound-for-pound king in the sweet science today.
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