Eddie Hearn disagrees with Canelo Alvarez’s view that Terence Crawford is a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather Jr. was during his career. Hearn points out that Crawford’s resume is “not that impressive.”
Crawford’s lack of elite-level victories hurts his ability to be seen as better than Mayweather or even one of the all-time greats. Hearn says Crawford lacks the wins over notable opposition for him to consider him as better than Floyd.
A history of faded opponents
“No, I don’t,” said Eddie Hearn to Pro Boxing Fans when asked if he agrees with Canelo Alvarez saying that Terence Crawford is better than Floyd Mayweather Jr. was. “His [Crawford] resume is not that impressive. Ricky Burns, you can’t say he’s one of the greats,” said Hearn, talking about how Crawford said that Burns is his best career win.
Resume-wise, Crawford isn’t on the level of Floyd Mayweather Jr. He doesn’t have nearly the same kinds of wins on his record as Mayweather. That might have been different if Crawford had moved up to 154, 160, or 168 early in his career.
Instead of being content fighting the non-elite-level fights at 135, 140, and 147 during the majority of his career, Crawford could have moved up to get the bigger fights against Gennadiy Golovkin, Canelo, Jermall Charlo, Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and Joe Calzaghe years ago. Then Crawford could be considered better than Mayweather if he defeated them all.
“It’s not Terence’s fault that he hasn’t been able to get those kinds of fights. A lot of the guys he’s fought have been done—even Ricky Burns. Kell Brook, Amir Khan, Gamboa, Indongo, and Errol Spence,” said Hearn, listing fighters that Crawford fought who were past their best.
None of the fighters that Hearn mentions above were near their best form by the time Crawford fought them. The former featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa was fighting in his third weight class in the last three years when Crawford beat him on June 28, 2014. The 5’5 1/2″ Gamboa was too small to be fighting at 135.
Kell Brook had already been destroyed by Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016, suffering a bad eye injury and a vicious beating that took the best out of him. He wasn’t the same fighter after that loss, and Crawford took advantage of his condition.
“Terence has never really had many notable victories. This [Canelo] would be it. This would be an incredible achievement,” said Hearn.
Crawford’s decline in the ring
The one fighter that Hearn didn’t mention, who is arguably Crawford’s best career win, is Israil Madrimov, whom he beat by a close 12-round unanimous decision in their last fight on August 3, 2024. Crawford had to rally last to get the victory in a fight that he could have lost.
That fight was easily the closest of Crawford’s career, and it came after he’d moved up from 147 to 154. The match showed three things about Crawford:
- Age
- Lacking power
- Slower
“I see Canelo Alvarez winning by a decision,” said Hearn, picking Canelo to defeat Crawford.
It’s a reasonable pick for Hearn to select Canelo as the winner because he’s the true super middleweight, more powerful, experienced, and he’s been the more active fighter in the last four years.
Canelo’s activity and advantage
Fights Since 2021
- Canelo: 10
- Crawford: 4
Canelo has fought almost three times as many fights in the last four years as Crawford has since 2021, and he’s fought better opposition.
