Terence Crawford is over 40 fights into what has been an extraordinary professional career.
Since making his debut back in 2008, the 37-year-old switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska has won world title across four weight classes and achieved undisputed status in both the super lightweight and welterweight divisions.
He has racked up a number of career defining victories along the way, defeating the likes of former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr, former two-time welterweight champion Shawn Porter and former super welterweight champion Israil Madrimov.
As he prepares for what could be another huge 12 months that could see him regarded as the best of this era, Crawford has revealed the fighters that he believes make up the top three in his pound-for-pound list.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine, he hit back at being ranked at three on The Ring’s list, admitting that he puts Oleksandr Usyk above him but Naoya Inoue – the third of the two-weight undisputed champs – beneath him at number three.
“The Ring number three? How y’all rating me number three? Who rating me at number three? I gotta go talk to them. [Oleksandr] Usyk number one, he better be number one. Over Usyk? I’m not over Usyk, but I’m over Inoue.”
Usyk became undisputed at both cruiser and heavyweight with huge victories over Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, beating both twice. He looks to become two-time undisputed in the division when he rematches Daniel Dubois on July 19.
‘The Monster’ Inoue, like Crawford, is a four-division world champion. He has dominated the lower weight classes and will defend his belts this weekend in Las Vegas against Ramon Cardenas.
‘Bud’ is just months away from facing unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in a mega-fight, which is being targeted for September. The 37-year-old will be eagerly awaiting the outcome of Canelo’s showdown with IBF super-middleweight champion William Scull, which also takes place this weekend.
Victory over Scull will see the Mexican icon become a two-time undisputed champion at 168lbs, which will give Crawford the opportunity to become the first fighter in male boxing history to achieve undisputed status in three weight divisions.
