Welsh boxing icon Joe Calzaghe believes there is one legendary fighter who would be capable of defeating pound-for-pound king Terence Crawford.
‘Bud’ Crawford extended his unbeaten professional record to 42-0 back in September when he defeated Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez to capture the undisputed super-middleweight championship at the conclusion of their historic showdown in Las Vegas.
The 38-year-old from Omaha became the first male fighter in boxing history to win an undisputed championship in three weight classes, having already accomplished that feat at super-lightweight and welterweight respectively.
Aside from his victory over Canelo, Crawford has racked up a number of other legacy-defining victories during his career, defeating the likes of Israil Madrimov, Shawn Porter and Errol Spence Jr to name just a few.
Whilst he has now cemented himself as arguably the greatest fighter of his entire generation, former long-reigning unified super-middleweight champion Calzaghe believes there is one iconic fighter in particular that would have been capable of defeating ‘Bud’.
Speaking to Boxing Scene, Calzaghe says he thinks that Crawford would have fallen short to four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr, who is widely considered to be one of the best fighters to have ever graced the sport.
“I think you can’t really put a peak Roy Jones in with … people making a point of, would [Crawford] have beaten a peak Roy Jones? Come on, man. No, I think he’s done great, going up in weight. He’s a great fighter, he’s a great fighter, Terence Crawford. But I don’t know.”
Jones rose to fame during the 1990s where he established himself as perhaps the best fighter of that era, winning world titles at middleweight, super-middleweight and light-heavyweight.
The Florida-native would then go on to move up to heavyweight, where he dethroned WBA world champion John Ruiz in what is often regarded as the greatest achievement of his career.
Jones has suffered a number of defeats during his professional career however, with one of these actually coming against Calzaghe, who defeated him via unanimous decision when they clashed back in November 2008.
