“What an inspiration it is to be able to have witnessed such greatness. All praises deserved to Crawford, his legacy will live on to be one of the greatest legacies ever. I’m honored to have witnessed it and am so motivated by all of his success !” – Shadasia Green, Unified Super Middleweight Champion

Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue fought just hours apart this past Saturday into Sunday morning, both earning hard fought but decisive decisions in their respective fights. 

Crawford (42-0, 31 ko) moving from welterweight (with a brief stop at jr. middle for a close decision over Israil Madrimov) to super middleweight earned a unanimous decision against generational great Canelo Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 ko) to become undisputed at 168, unquestionably solidifying his seat at the table with any of the all time greats, and making a convincing case that he is the best fighter of his era.  

For Inoue (31-0, 27 ko), a dominant but competitive decision against what seems to be the last stone unturned for him at jr. featherweight MJ Akhmadaliev (14-2, 11 ko) continues one of the most dominant runs of a lower weight fighter in the history of boxing. The likely next move seems to be a super fight with fellow Japanese champion Junto Nakatani in the biggest fight in Japanese history and perhaps the stiffest challenge of Inoue’s storied career. 

Crawford’s future seems more uncertain. He wasn’t sure if this would be his last fight in the post fight interview, probably the worst moment to ask a fighter that kind of a question. He has a variety of choices, one of those being retirement, but both 154 and 168 lbs offer him a wealth of solid challenges, although none of them with the luster, significance, or paycheck of a fight with Canelo. One thing is for certain though; neither of these two all time greats will be around forever. For Crawford it seems the end is near, and Inoue has certainly more of his career behind him than ahead. On the heels of signature wins, what are the legacies that both have already left behind? Here are some of my thoughts along with the ITRBoxing staff and experts around the sport.

Terence “Bud” Crawford

“What Terence Crawford accomplished this past weekend was truly remarkable. Whether you’re a casual boxing fan or a passionate diehard, we just witnessed a defining moment in American sports history.

We weren’t alive to experience the legendary nights of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Ricardo “Finito” López, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, and so many others. But today, we are blessed to witness two fighters who belong in that same category: Terence “Bud” Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Álvarez.

Not only did we get to see a historic battle between two men whose names will be etched in the history books of boxing forever — we witnessed one of the greatest accomplishments of all time, live and in front of our eyes.” – Felix Gracia, Founder of ITRBoxing 

For all of his belts and accomplishments, Terence Crawford spent much of his career on the outside looking in- avoided, under appreciated and overlooked. But to anyone who had seen him, he was one of the baddest men on the planet.

He won his first world title with a dominant decision over Ricky Burns in 2014, followed by a battle of undefeated fighters a few months later in his first defense against Yuriorkis Gamboa in a fight perceived as a 50/50 at the time. He would then unify that division against then unbeaten champion Vikor Postol, dropping him twice and going on to a one sided decision victory over arguably the other top guy in the division. A year later he would become undisputed with a third round knockout of Julius Inodongo, also then unbeaten.

By the time Crawford moved up to welterweight in 2018 with a 9th round stoppage of Jeff Horn, there was already talk of the potential fight between he and Errol Spence. Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia also offered prominant names to build a legacy with and were all fighting each other under the PBC banner. Kell Brook offered a stiff challenge and had comeback successfully since losses to Spence and Gennady Golovkin in a singular move up to middleweight. Manny Pacquiao, though older still served as one of the biggest money makers in boxing at the time. But those fights would either have to wait, or would never materialize at all.

From the fight with Horn until the COVID-19 pandemic, Crawford would have to settle for the likes of Jose Benavidez, Amir Khan, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas, all high level, quality contenders, but with so many other big fights looming in the division, were not the kind of opponents that Crawford was calling for or deserved.

By November 2020 when Crawford finally fought Kell Brook, the first truly elite opponent of his welterweight career, stopping him suddenly in the fourth, the calls for Crawford vs. Spence were as loud as ever. Spence’s dominant decision over Danny Garcia a month later would only amplify them.

But a year later, Crawford would have a come from behind 10th round stoppage of Shawn Porter, and Spence would be penciled in for a 2021 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, the biggest fight of his career against boxing’s aging cash cow. After suffering a retinal tear, Spence would be replaced by Yordenis Ugas, who would go on to beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision. Spence would be sidelined until April 2022 when he would go on to stop Ugas in one of his best career performances. All the while, Crawford waited – on the outside looking in.

“Omaha Nebraska supported local boxing and got a legend in the game” – Nigel Stewart, ITRBoxing

The end of 2022 would see Crawford stop David Avanesyan in a shakier performance, and thus began the final and excruciating negotiation to make the fight with Spence happen, a fight that had been in the boxing zeitgeist for nearly six years. And when the fight finally happened, it was so dominant for Crawford that it started to mirror what you might call a mismatch if it wasn’t the absolute elite of the sport. But quickly, that became the reality, that Crawford was levels above and there was no doubt; Terence Crawford is the best welterweight of the post-Mayweather era and the pound for pound king of boxing.

I was one of those people that picked Spence. I, like many others thought Spence had the better resume, and that by no fault of his own, Crawford had promotionally been shut out of elite level welterweight fights and would be less prepared for the ebbs and flows of a fight of that magnitude. I thought the physicality Shawn Porter was able to impose on Crawford was a sign of an inactive fighter who’s blade was dull. I thought he looked too hittable against Avanesyan. I was wrong on every level.

“Crawford did the unthinkable against Canelo and became the first male boxer to become 3X undisputed champion in 3 different divisions. We might have witnessed the Greatest fighter of our era! “ – Tiffanie Daniels, ITRBoxing

And here I was just last week, leaning towards Canelo Alvarez on the basis of size and physicality, semi surprised at the end of round 12 that none of the things that I thought might come into play did. Canelo could not impose his size and physicality. He could not get to Terence with his power or even so much as slow him up with the clean body work he was doing the whole fight. It was a purely tactical bout that Canelo kept just barely coming in second in for the first ten rounds, only to see Crawford pull away in the final two.

That for me, is what makes Crawford an all time great. It’s not that he has the best resume- there are plenty of great fighters with more high level signature wins, who stayed more active, who beat more hall of famers. Its that in spite of being walled off from the elite of his weight class during his prime, through bouts of inactivity and a changing boxing landscape, Crawford stayed ready, and when a fight with he and Canelo was announced last April, a fight that frankly none of us were asking for or knew was an option, he took the massive risk of moving up three weight classes to take on the best and most notable fighter of his era. He did something extreme to get our attention, something only a few fighters before him have done successfully, and it without a hiccup, giving us one of the greatest singular performances in boxing history on the heels of an all time masterclass over Spence. He did it all without the support of the boxing promotional establishment, and at times, the support from the fans. He did it without having the political capitol of any other fighter of his caliber, never benefited from the perks of being the A-side guy. Bud Crawford worked with what he had, and last Saturday, he had my full attention.

“In my eyes, Crawford is the pound-for-pound greatest of our generation. He delivered a master-class performance with superb angles and outside boxing, even mixing it up in the pocket and letting his hands fly against the toughest inside fighter in the game. I thought it was an A-class performance that made Canelo look slow, telegraphed, and frustrated.” – Harry Gigliotti, BYB Lightweight Champion

Naoya “The Monster” Inoue

“Inoue is the greatest Japanese fighter of all-time, and for me, in terms of jump off the screen talent and athleticism, may be the most awe-inspiring fighter of the last 20 years. If you were to argue that he is the most offensively gifted fighter ever, I wouldn’t say that you’re wrong. 

Eleven years as a world champion, twice undisputed, and doing so against a level of opposition that in terms of pure skill is on par with or often better than what exists at 135 and above. It’s an astonishing achievement. Not to mention, he’s done it by adhering to even the most absurd asks of the broader boxing community: He fought everyone available, fought often, and blatantly hunted for knockouts. What more could you ask for from a fighter?” – Corey Erdman, Color Commentator & Writer

Fighting largely in Japan and under the nose of many U.S. fans, Naoya Inoue has been on a run of epic proportion in the lower weights. By the time I saw him fight for the first time against Antonio Nieves back in 2017 on the undercard of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai’s brutal knockout over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, I was late to the party. Inoue had already become flyweight champion against Adrian Hernandez in 2014, then moved up two weight classes and knocked Omar Narvaez out in the second round later that same year for the WBO title of that division. He had already defended that title five times. I had some catching up to do.

That performance was quickly followed by a move up to bantamweight which saw Inoue score devastating first round knockouts over Jamie McDonell and Juan Carlos Payano in 2018, and an IBF title fight against Emanuel Rodriguez in May 2019, which Inoue would win by 2nd round knockout. And then came, at least for me, Inoue’s first defining moment in November of 2019- a fight of the year with aging legend Nonito Donaire in the first time we had really seen Inoue face any form of resistance. He had been annihilating everyone we had seen him in with, and Donaire just happened to have one more legendary night in him. The two delivered one of the best and high level fights in lower weight history, and the torch was passed- Inoue was one of the best fighters out, and there was no denying it.

The two would have a highly anticipated rematch in June of 2022. Inoue had defended his title three times, and Donaire had continued to defy the hands of time, stopping unbeaten champion Nordine Oubaali for the IBF bantameight title and defending it in a knockout of unbeaten Raymart Garballo. Inoue would make short work of Donaire this time in a stunning second round knockout.

“Naoya Inoue is a very impressive boxer on every level. He has the skills, natural athleticism and power. He is a 4 weight world champ and he started at 108.   As he moved up in weight he always went after the best guys in the division. Never ducked anyone. He is able to make on the fly adjustments after being hurt by bigger guys. He is on the pound for pound list for good reason. Very rarely do we see a guy this small get this much attention.  He will be talked about with the all time great little guys like Willy Pep, Orlando Canizales and Chocolatito” – Coach John Pullman

Thirteen months later, Inoue would move up to jr. featherweight for a crack at Stephen Fulton, a slick, unbeaten champion from Philadelphia on an impressive run of his own, having won a title against Arnold Khegai and defending it against Angelo Leo, Brandon Figueroa and Danny Roman. Fulton was the unified champion and undeniably the best 122 pounder of the moment. Inoue would give Fulton a boxing lesson and a beatdown, finally stopping him the eighth and becoming unified champion in his 4th weightclass. This would come just two days after Terence Crawford’s domination of Errol Spence, and was a fight perceived similarly to their’s as well, a 50/50 fight between the two very best. Like Crawford, Inoue was levels above.

And thus began Inoue’s jr. featherweight run. He’d become undisputed against Marlon Tapales, and get off the deck to stop Luis Nery five months later in May of 2024. And while everyone fantasized about Inoue moving up in weight for unrealistic fights with Tank Davis and Vasiliy Lomachenko, Inoue would continue fighting top contenders at 122, cleaning out the division. Slick Ubzek champion Murodjon Akhmadaliev was the last hurdle for Inoue, and he jumped it with no problem Sunday morning, winning a dominant but hard fought unanimous decision over the slick and versatile Akhmadaliev, who showed up to fight and forced Inoue to adjust.

“Inoue is another pound-for-pound great, with fast combinations, pinpoint punching precision, and power, along with beautifully timed angles. He can pop shot, move, and still stay in A-class form, showing defensive to offensive work off his back foot counters. I didn’t watch the full fight, but from the highlights I can tell he boxed a master class as well, working his right hand against the southpaw.” – Harry Gigliotti, BYB Lightweight Champion

Like Crawford, Inoue has also achieved greatness under the nose of the casual boxing fan and of the sports world. He never got the western promotional push the likes of Alvarez or Pacquiao , or even under appreciated heavyweight legend Oleksandr Usyk received, while clearly belonging in the conversation with those kinds of guys, just like Terence Crawford. He rarely fought at a time convenient for many outside of Japan, and yet I can’t think of a lower weight fighter I’ve been more impressed with. Inoue’s spot at the table is already reserved and everything else from this point forward is the cherry on top of an already all-time great career.

“Naoya Inoue is one of these unique figures, perfectly situated where he is. He’s up there with the three best fighters of this era, Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk. In 2017, Usyk is going for his run, Inoue’s a world champion, but he started moving up weights to get better challenges. Usyk is fighting all of the guys, the champions, on the road, he’s the road warrior. Inoue’s moving up weights and making world class champions look like nobodies. He’s got these attributes you don’t see in that weight class that often. He’s got speed, power and timing. And this is coming off the Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez era, a good inside fighter, good pressure fighter, but probably the one thing I’d say to Chocolatito’s fault is he wasn’t that explosive guy, he wasn’t necessarily that timing guy, he could exchange with you, but he wasn’t somebody who could do an athletic move and catch you and lay you flat. So at the time, I think we were looking at Inoue in comparison to Chocolatito Gonzalez, and you’re seeing someone in Inoue who had attributes of a fighter like Terence Crawford, and you don’t traditionally see those in those weight classes. The other thing was, always looking for the challenges, always looking to make the best fights, and he’s aways looking to finish a fight, almost to a fault because he can get caught with shots. We see it with Donaire, Cardenas, Luis Nery, and in fights in the future we’ll see him get hit with punches and get hurt because he’s always going to make a fight. He’s talented, he’s technical, and he has a lot of great attributes, but I’d say his greatest attribute on top of that is that he’s awkward. He’s unorthodox, Some of what makes him a world class fighter is that he’s able to do things you can’t train for. He doesn’t throw traditional punches. You couldn’t really even get a young fighter in the gym and try to tell them to fight like Inoue. Inoue is one of those rare fighters in which his exact skillset matches the way he fights, but the way he fights would probably be flawed for most fighters. Thats what captivated me.” Lucas Ketelle, BoxingScene

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