As the dust settles on Terence Crawford’s statement-making win over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the historic significance of the scenes that unfolded earlier this month in Las Vegas should reshape what we think about modern-day boxing — and how its weight classes need not constrain the sport’s elite.
Traditional thought dictates that Crawford had no right doing what he did to “Canelo,” regardless of the Mexican powerhouse’s decline from his prime. Alvarez remains a hulking bruiser who still dropped many of his most recent opponents, and who showed in 2023 against Jermell Charlo that he could sap a super welterweight’s ambitions within the 168-pound confines of super middleweight after only a few rounds.
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Yet Crawford’s generational skill set was more than enough to offset Alvarez’s physical advantages. He beat him to the punch with counters, showcased expert defense and stood his ground to land combinations from the pocket. If the Netflix event, staged in front of more than 70,000 fans at the home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, was a proof of concept for Dana White and TKO Boxing, then the bout’s result is a blueprint for technical fighters dethroning kings from bigger divisions.
Terence Crawford became boxing’s undisputed super middleweight champion when he jumped up multiple divisions to challenge Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
(Harry How via Getty Images)
Because Crawford is not boxing’s only highly skilled operator who has done this.
Oleksandr Usyk has also shown through the years that he can take the sport’s biggest men to school despite his blown-up cruiserweight frame. The Ukrainian ran rampant under 200 pounds, won the World Boxing Super Series, and, at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, is now lapping competition who are frequently three inches taller and 30 pounds heavier than him as boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion.
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For the sport of boxing to thrive in today’s landscape, other gifted fighters must also dare to be great.
They can elevate their legacies by replicating Crawford and Usyk in rewriting history like Roy Jones Jr., Roberto Duran and Henry Armstrong once did before them. It’s how fighters go from being the best in their own era to becoming one of the best of all time.
That’s the challenge now for Gervonta “Tank” Davis, Naoya Inoue and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez — fighters who possess difference-making qualities and have proven they can alter the course of big boxing bouts.
“Tank” is currently under fire for taking part in a Nov. 11 exhibition with Jake Paul, which kicked off its promotion this week with back-to-back increasingly bizarre press conferences. While lucrative for the headliners, this kind of unofficial event holds up the lightweight division, as Davis is its WBA champion.
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There are real fights waiting for one of America’s top remaining draws: Shakur Stevenson in a lightweight unification, Teofimo Lopez at 140 pounds, or Manny Pacquiao at welterweight.
Inoue, too, has elite fight-finishing power, but has so far resisted leaving super bantamweight to face a big name like “Tank” at a catchweight.
Japan’s “Monster” is an extraordinarily fun fighter to watch, but earlier this year boxed in a half-empty T-Mobile Arena against Ramon Cardenas on Cinco de Mayo weekend. In the build-up to that bout, a representative of Inoue’s requested no “Tank” questions moments before their fighter joined a media huddle with Uncrowned and other U.S. media.
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If Inoue is to truly break through to American audiences and compete in front of sold-out venues as a box-office fighter, then he should follow in Crawford’s footsteps, weight-jump and challenge the proven pay-per-view fighter in Davis.
While Terence Crawford leapt up multiple divisions to challenge one of boxing’s best, WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis is taking part in a circus fight against Jake Paul next.
(Leonardo Fernandez via Getty Images)
Inoue appears set to fight Junto Nakatani next year in one of the biggest bouts world boxing can book. Yet it’s Nakatani who is daring to be great in that one, as it is he who is leaving the comfort of his own weight class to test his skills against the champion in the weight class above.
After Japan’s version of Hagler-Hearns takes place, Inoue should do similar — to WBO featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza, at the very least, if not Davis.
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And the same applies for Jesse Rodriguez.
“Bam” is the jewel in Matchroom’s U.S. roster. He’s the clear No. 1 in the 115-pound weight class, and, before long, he’ll have cleaned out that division.
That creates opportunity. Rodriguez could be the Crawford or the Usyk of the lighter weight classes by challenging the Inoue vs. Nakatani winner in 2026, regardless of its outcome.
Crawford’s win shifted the sport of boxing because he leapt into a division where few gave him a chance, dismantled one of boxing’s global icons, and then left with every belt.
That wasn’t just victory. It was a challenge to other pound-for-pound fighters to catch him if they can.
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Fans don’t just want champions protecting zeroes. They want fighters to show ambition and risk their legacies in 50-50 fights.
Crawford joined the lineage of Usyk, Jones, Duran and Armstrong in proving greatness lives outside comfort zones.
Now the spotlight shifts to “Tank,” Inoue, “Bam” and others. If 42 million tuned in to watch one man dare to be great, imagine the numbers when others follow.
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