Terence Crawford, for many the reigning pound-for-pound king, may or may not be heading into a massive, perhaps career-defining fight with Canelo Alvarez. One man who perhaps gave all following fighters the blueprint on how to beat the Mexican star is Floyd Mayweather. And, like “Money” did when he fought Canelo, Crawford would be looking to outbox him and frustrate him. Whether or not “Bud” can do it, well, we may find out this September.
However, on a not altogether unrelated subject, Bob Arum, who at one point promoted Mayweather and also promoted Crawford, says there would have been a “1” at the end of Mayweather’s record had he faced Crawford. Speaking with ESNews, the Top Rank boss said Crawford’s ability to switch stance in a fight gives him a huge advantage over other fighters, Mayweather in a mythical match-up included.
“Crawford [beats Mayweather] because Crawford is [for a guy] fighting his size, unique,” Arum said. “The one thing that Crawford has that most other fighters don’t have is that he is totally ambidextrous. So when he shifts from orthodox to southpaw he is equally effective either way.”
This one really is a fascinating Dream Fight. And the way Crawford’s going, with him perhaps destined to retire from the sport having never lost a single fight, just like Mayweather, the argument over who would have won a fight between the two could grow and grow. Of course, this is an argument that can never be settled, as is the case with any Dream Fight. Mayweather Vs. Crawford, at, say welterweight, would have been one for the purists, for the lovers of The Sweet Science.
Both men have great defence, superb speed, and accuracy, and the thing about Crawford and Mayweather is the fact that neither guy ever, ever showed up for a fight having anything but optimum conditioning and fitness. A thrilling 12-round chess match would likely have been witnessed here, and a great case can be made for either man winning. One could make the argument that Mayweather never fought anyone quite like Crawford, while the same could be said the other way.
These two modern day greats (some would say all-time greats) would have brought out the best in each other, that much we can probably agree on.
Back to that possible Crawford challenge of Canelo: if Crawford can get the win, does he overtake Mayweather in the list of the best to ever do it?
