Terence Crawford cemented himself as arguably the best fighter of his generation with a victory over Canelo Alvarez last weekend.
The 37-year-old from Omaha put on an outstanding performance against the Mexican icon to capture the undisputed super-middleweight world championship at a packed-out Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The three judges at ringside scored the historic clash 115-13, 115-113 and 116-112 all in favour of the unbeaten American superstar, although it has been suggested by fans and experts that the cards should have been a lot wider.
‘Bud’ has received a lot of praise for putting on what is being considered to be the best performance of his career in what was his first appearance at 168lbs, having spent most of the last 10 years campaigning at welterweight where he became the undisputed champion in 2023.
Speaking in the post-fight press conference just moments after he beat Canelo, Crawford was asked if he has ever faced anyone that punches harder than the 35-year-old from Guadalajara, revealing one former opponent in particular.
“I’ve been hit harder in a real fight, Mean Machine hit harder than Canelo to me, to be honest.”
Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who is known more commonly as Mean Machine, was stopped by Crawford in the ninth round of their bout back in December 2019, falling short in his attempt at capturing the WBO welterweight title from ‘Bud’.
Kavaliauskas holds a record of 24 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw, with 19 of his wins coming by knockout, his most notable victory arguably coming when he stopped David Avanesyan in February 2018.
As for Crawford, whilst he is expected to take some time away from the sport, ‘Bud’ looks likely to continue with his boxing career with reports now suggesting that he could be tempted by a move down to middleweight in the near future.
