Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
Yes, they’ve stripped him. But no, they haven’t beaten him.
Which is why Crawford, who, like Inoue, remains unbeaten at 40-0 with 31 KOs and titles in three weight classes, remains ahead of his equally prolific Japanese rival.
The Nebraskan was a four-belt champ at welterweight after a shockingly one-sided beatdown of Errol Spence Jr. last summer, but he’s not fought since and fell victim to sanctioning body silliness when the IBF rewarded his belt to top contender Jaron Ennis.
Crawford was contractually obligated to take a rematch with Spence, which apparently forced the hand of the New Jersey-based organization, which does not include him in its rankings because he still possesses the WBA, WBC and WBO titles.
Where he’ll go with them now remains a question.
He could follow through and fight Spence. He could change course and fight Ennis. Or he could pay off months of rumors and skip two rungs on the ladder to challenge 168-pound king Canelo Alvarez.
Tim Bradley, a recent International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, says the latter isn’t unreasonable because of Crawford’s all-time preeminence.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like Terence Crawford. I do study history. I never seen anybody that has everything,” he told Fight Hub TV (h/t Boxing Scene).
“Good speed, power, timing, can switch the way he switches. That has the toughest, the meanness that he has, the way he finishes guys, the way he breaks down guys. He’s one of the smartest guys that I’ve ever seen in the ring, right up there with Floyd Mayweather.”
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