Terence Crawford- the best P4P in the sport today!

[Alpha]

Good contributions to this thread. But let us look at it in a Floyd Mayweather perspective- He had a HUGE gap in elite fighters after he fought Chico Corrales (RIP) and Oscar DLH- It wasn't until he beat Oscar that he was truly considered the best, and it was semi-best until Manny Pac lost to Morales and even then they still had Manny as a better fighter.

To me, if I had any sense, Floyd should have been ranked in the top spot over Mosely and Hopkins AND RJJ, ranked 1, 2 and 3 respectively, to be honest. But, such is life...

I think the first fight vs Jose Luis Castillo hurt Floyd, but prior to that I was waiting for the guy to make a splash but in order to do that you've got to string fights together which are high profile. Had he EASILY handled JLC then he would have been there. That 1 fight placed doubts in a lot of people's minds, he certainly redeemed himself in the rematch even if he didn't stop him but after that who did he gun for? There were plenty of stud young fighters ready to go and I know he had title defenses to make so I understand "you can't fight them all" but to go from Augustus, Corrales, El Famoso, Jesus Chavez, JLC, JLC II to Sosa, Ndou, Corley, Bruseles, Gatti, Mitchell and then Zab Judah coming off of a loss....he didn't even get back on track until he fought Baldomir and although Baldomir deserved the fight for beating Zab and Gatti he was not going to test Floyd.


Where's Margarito? Where's Cotto at 140 or 147 (in that time frame)? Where's Williams? Where's Hatton at 140? Where was Acelino Freitas? Where are these guys?


Floyd is a great fighter, but he never threw caution to the wind and tossed himself willingly into the lion's den....smart on his part, but hell I guess better to leave the fans wanting more....although I don't want another bullshit exhibition bout like he had vs Conor, he could make money just doing those to be honest, but try and tell the boxing world that's a real fight...0-0-0 vs 49-0-0 ...yeah HORSE SHIT.



Oh and just so nobody misunderstands, I did LOVE that Floyd gave Gatti the opportunity, that was a real life Rocky moment. Floyd the Apollo Creed to Gatti's Rocky, only there was no storybook ending for Arturo RIP. Arturo had a dramatic career, up and down, up and down, it was nice that a throwback fighter like him got a chance to shine in the spotlight. Floyd was simply too good for any version of Arturo.

Agree with this, you forgot Tszyu tho.

[Spicoli]

I'm split. I don't think Crawfords list of opponents matches Loma. But I honestly think Crawford is more diverse with a better arsenal.

[Alpha]

Fight did big viewing numbers, which is great to hear.

[mikeeod]

I'm split. I don't think Crawfords list of opponents matches Loma. But I honestly think Crawford is more diverse with a better arsenal.

Not trolling or making this a right/wrong debate, because I think this is all subjective, just curious as to who you think Crawford beat that is as good as Linares and Walters. To me both of those guys are very tough in their own way. Linares is a hell of a technician in the ring, rangy, good power, great experience...etc., while Walters is a beast. He had a shaky performance right before Loma, so I can see how people would rank him a little lower, but the guy is an animal in the ring and Loma toyed with him and made him quit. Rigo was too small for Loma, but he is a great fighter also. Don’t give Loma as much credit due to the size difference.

[p4pking]

I don’t think Linares or Walters merit anything over say Gamboa, postal, or benavidez. Not weighing in on Crawford vs loma, both are right up there for me,just record wise I wouldn’t split them.

[Fenster]

If you want to claim Crawford P4P no.1 due to the "eye test" then fine but to try and spin his wins as even on a par with Loma is ridiculous. All this hoopla from beating a no-mark in Benavidez, a man who self-proclaimed "hardcores" were getting confused with his brother in the build up.

Crawford is without doubt a P4P worthy elite, however, the man quite simply is lacking a top drawer dance partner. He has never fought anyone getting close to the HOF.

[p4pking]

If you want to claim Crawford P4P no.1 due to the "eye test" then fine but to try and spin his wins as even on a par with Loma is ridiculous. All this hoopla from beating a no-mark in Benavidez, a man who self-proclaimed "hardcores" were getting confused with his brother in the build up.

Crawford is without doubt a P4P worthy elite, however, the man quite simply is lacking a top drawer dance partner. He has never fought anyone getting close to the HOF.

Loma has, though? Linares, regardless of potential, did get iced by all of his best opponents prior. Walters looked good in one fight..... I’m not sure where you get ridiculous from? Postol and Gamboa were very good fighters, I just don’t see any real gulf at all...

[powerpuncher]

If you want to claim Crawford P4P no.1 due to the "eye test" then fine but to try and spin his wins as even on a par with Loma is ridiculous. All this hoopla from beating a no-mark in Benavidez, a man who self-proclaimed "hardcores" were getting confused with his brother in the build up.

Crawford is without doubt a P4P worthy elite, however, the man quite simply is lacking a top drawer dance partner. He has never fought anyone getting close to the HOF.

Loma has, though? Linares, regardless of potential, did get iced by all of his best opponents prior. Walters looked good in one fight..... I’m not sure where you get ridiculous from? Postol and Gamboa were very good fighters, I just don’t see any real gulf at all...

I’m not claiming that Crawford has fought an elite opponent, but everyone keeps bringing up Linares for Loma as if he were elite. Linares is a solid fighter but is not a career defining kind of fight IMO. Linares had been stopped many times before and had close fights with decent fighters.

Walters is hard to gauge because he looked good before but took a ton of time off and just looked out of it for the Loma fight. He then hasn’t fought again. Again, not at all a bad win, but just don’t know how much better of a win than Crawford’s win against Postol.

[Fenster]

I wouldn't say Linares got beat by all his "best" opponents, Loma beat him when he was a three weight "world" champion, No. 1 ranked lightweight (The Ring champion), unbeaten for half-a-dozen years and had flirted in-and-out of P4P lists for a decade.

Walter's was regarded the no.1 featherweight (The Ring), unbeaten, had sparkos over former elites and was robbed - with a draw - against a man who was "robbed" against Gamboa.

Postol and Gamboa are good fighters but what makes them better on paper than Rigo, Russell Jr, Martinez, Marriaga or Sosa? Loma has a couple of HOFamers on his record inside a dozen fights.

[Spicoli]

I'm split. I don't think Crawfords list of opponents matches Loma. But I honestly think Crawford is more diverse with a better arsenal.

Not trolling or making this a right/wrong debate, because I think this is all subjective, just curious as to who you think Crawford beat that is as good as Linares and Walters. To me both of those guys are very tough in their own way. Linares is a hell of a technician in the ring, rangy, good power, great experience...etc., while Walters is a beast. He had a shaky performance right before Loma, so I can see how people would rank him a little lower, but the guy is an animal in the ring and Loma toyed with him and made him quit. Rigo was too small for Loma, but he is a great fighter also. Don’t give Loma as much credit due to the size difference.

Mmm yeh bud I'm actually with you there as I don't think Crawfords opponent level matches that of Lomas. As much as I like the guy I honestly don't think Crawford has faced anyone on the level of Linares. Now thats not to say that he couldn't handle the full room at 147 and I think he does, save for Spence in a match that to me is immensely close with a very very slight edge to Spence if forced to pick. I can see Crawford being somewhat susceptible to the body attack of Spence but also think that the small defensive lapses Spence has shown..gets stationary, stands tall in spots..can be exploited by a more mobile switch hitting Crawford. Power, inside work edge to Spence and I think thats what it comes down to. A fight Crawford would be well advised to keep his tongue in his mouth and resist the urge to clown.