By Norm Frauenheim-
Terence Crawford, not known for wearing his heart on his sleeve, wore it on his face instead. There it was on a mask that could have been a billboard.
P4P, pound-for-pound, repeated and emphasized in black across white cloth. It was bold messaging impossible to mistake, especially for Kell Brook or anybody else tempted to interpret the body language in boxing’s faceoff ritual.
Crawford plans to state his case.
Or, at least, restate it Saturday in his first appearance during a Pandemic that has shuffled and re-shuffled the pound-for-pound debate.
It changes by the week.
Vasiliy Lomachenko gets knocked off in a loss to Teofimo Lopez. Naoya Inoue wins easily, knocking out an overmatched Jason Moloney. Gervonta Davis makes a bid for consideration with a stoppage of accomplished Leo Santa Cruz. Devin Haney puts himself in the conversation with a thorough decision over faded Yuriorkis
Gamboa. Canelo Alvarez puts himself back on the board, formally splitting with promoter Oscar De La Hoya amid plans to fight somebody, reportedly Callum Smith, in mid-December.
It’s intriguing. Contentious, too.
At the top of the pound-for-pound scale, there are three – Crawford, Canelo and Inoue. There’s a good argument for any of the three, reasonable enough to argue that the top spot should be vacant until somebody delvers a convincing performance.
Enter Crawford, who takes his turn at the bully pulpit against Brook on ESPN in the Bubble at the MGM Grand’s Conference Center in Las Vegas.
“I’ve always felt that I’m Number One, pound-for-pound, in the world,” Crawford said, mask and message still in place, during a news conference Wednesday. “This is what I do.”
Crawford, a leading pound-for-pound contender for the last couple of years, has been criticized for the quality – specifically the lack of it – in his opposition since the former lightweight champion jumped from junior-welterweight to welter in June 2018 against Jeff Horn.
It’s the kind of criticism often attached to any claim on the pound-for-pound’s top spot. That’s why it’s called a debate. Roy Jones Jr. was dogged by the criticism throughout much of his brilliant career, which once included a 2002 hip-hop lyric and career slogan: Ya’all Must’ve Forgot. Viewed through history’s unerring vision, it’s unforgettably clear today. Jones dominated, especially in 1994 when he scored a dazzling decision over dangerous James Toney in a super-middleweight bout. There was simply nobody better.
It’s hard to know whether Crawford will be seen the same way one day. Boxing’s balkanized rivalries might mean the Top Rank-promoted Crawford will never face anybody on PBC’s (Premier Boxing Champions) deep welterweight roster – Errol Spence Jr., Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter.
Before Spence’s scary car crash in October 2019, there was talk – urgent talk – about Spence-Crawford. It had to happen. Now? Who knows? In another bout with potential pound-for-pound significance, Spence returns for the first time since the crash on Dec. 5 against Garcia. It’s no tune-up. Spence calls himself The Truth. We’ll get the truth, post-accident, in about three weeks.
Crawford had an interesting comment during a Zoom session about Spence and whether his career hinges on a showdown with the Dallas welterweight. Crawford wasn’t sure. He was asked: If there’s no fight with Spence in 2021, is there a chance it’ll never happen?
“Yeah, it might,” Crawford said. “It might. You know, but like I said, I never really felt like I really needed Errol Spence for my legacy or my career. You know, I’ve accomplished so much in the sport of boxing that, you know, I really didn’t need him.
“You know, yes, I needed him for my legacy at the welterweight division and becoming a two-time, undisputed champion at two different weight classes. But if that fight don’t happen, I don’t feel like, you know, it’ll hurt my legacy. It just hurts the legacy of (me in) the welterweight division.”
Like the rest of boxing, it sounds as if he’ll wait and see how Spence looks against Garcia. There’s nothing else Crawford can do, especially against Brook, a sudden star when he upset Porter more than six years ago.
Since then, he lost to Gennadiy Golovkin in a jump to middleweight and then to Spence in a move back to welter. He suffered a fractured eye socket in each. Brook, who has also fought at junior-middleweight, is bigger than Crawford. The power in his right hand is dangerous.
“He’s never faced a fighter like me,’’ said Brook, who said he has always been prepared for Crawford’s quicksilver way of switching from orthodox to southpaw and back.
For Crawford, the task is to prove there is simply no fighter like him at any weight. His mask says he will.
