Former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver rates Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford at the top of his list as the best fighter in boxing following his wins over Errol Spence Jr. and David Avanesyan.
Tarver likes what he sees in the 36-year-old Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) and isn’t asking him to prove himself against the younger generation, like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, to show if he’s truly the best.
Crawford Reigns Supreme
When asked for his top three, Tarver, without hesitation, lists the highly ranked pound-for-pound fighter Crawford as one of the best in boxing.
The Omaha, Nebraska native Crawford took apart a depleted-looking Spence last July. It was a good win, but Spence looked in bad health even before the bell rang for the fight.
Some feel that Spence’s eye injury, two car crashes, and hard work of draining down from 200 lbs to make 147 proved to be too much for him. A clearer picture of how good Crawford is would be done if he’d fight ‘Boots’ Ennis, but unfortunately, he doesn’t wish to fight him.
You can reach your own conclusions about why Crawford doesn’t wish to face Boots. It’s obviously no fun fighting a young gun when you’re coming off your career-best win.
It took Crawford 15 years to finally get recognition. And now that he has, he’s not eager to get in there and keep proving himself. I guess you can’t blame him.
Gervonta Davis Punches into Second
The second fighter on Tarver’s list is Gervonta Davis, the former three-division world champion and current WBA ‘regular’ lightweight champion.
If Tank would fight someone well, he could take the #1 spot, but he’s not been fighting high-level guys for years.
Haney and Stevenson in Third-Place Tussle
“Terence, I think. Abdul, formally known as Tank. Then, whoever really finds it first between Haney and Shakur could possibly get it all right and really be the best of the remaining crop. But, they are missing some pieces right now,” said Tarver on Shawn Porter’s YouTube channel.
“I think that he [Shakur] has just got to believe in himself, believe in his style, and believe in what makes him. Where is his counter-punching ability? Where is the counter-punching at?
“To counter-punch, you have got to make a guy miss, and then you have got to be in a position to make him pay. Make these guys miss, they have got two hands and they can only throw one at a time, think about that, you have got to simplify this stuff,” said Tarver.
