Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford shocked most of the 70,482 fans sitting inside the stadium in Las Vegas with his unanimous victory against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. He was the overwhelming underdog coming up two weight classes to super middleweight.
As Crawford was being crowned the undisputed super middleweight champion, Max Kellerman compared him to Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
“Every era has its guy that you can’t tell anyone from that era anything about. We lived through Michael Jordan. Try telling anyone who did that that LeBron James is better. Those who lived through LeBron James, there will be another guy come around in 20 years and try to tell them that.” Kellerman said after the historic win by Crawford.
Kellerman says that his tangible qualities and prowess are exceptional, but the boxer’s defining characteristic is that he has a defectively competitive personality. Much like Jordan and James, Crwaford wants to beat the other person at everything, all the time.
His triumph was full of star-studded reactions. Before the fight, WNBA superstar Angel Reese went viral for meeting the boxer backstage.
“DUBS IN THE CHAT”, she posted on X after the fight.
Upon Crawford’s win, reactions from NBA fans came in one after the other, as the basketball world flocked to congratulate a generational boxer in his legacy-defining moment.
“BUD”, said Ja Morant.
“Bud outboxed Canelo!! Bud like Kobe, Kyrie, or KD lol no weaknesses at all,” said former Boston Celtics All-Star and current NBA G-League star Isaiah Thomas.
“Crawford is embarrassing this man”, posted former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins.
“Bud!!!”, rallied DeMar DeRozan on X.
“This was not close, right?” said De’Aaron Fox.
“Crawford punished that boy! Better not cheat him”, said DeMarcus Cousins.
“Bud was just too much,” said Dallas Mavericks power forward PJ Washington.
“Great performance, Bud! Well deserved.. congrats, champ!” said six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen.
“CRAWFORD MASTERCLASS!!! Conversations better involve him, or you admit you don’t know boxing, SIMPLE,” said New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns.
“Can’t wait to hear what showbizz got to say smh,” said known combat culture aficionado and Portland Trailblazers legend Damian Lillard, possibly referring to YouTube boxing analyst ‘showbizz the adult.’
“Yeahhhh, Bud!! Showing it’s really levels to this shit!” said Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young, who also dubbed Crawford as the ‘GOAT’ by responding with the emoji on his win.
Most analysts and experts, including Alvarez, thought that coming up with two divisions would take away a lot from Crawford’s power package. But he surprised everyone with the power he showcased in some of the jabs towards the end. Even Alvarez looked shaken after a hard right one connected from Crawford.
Max Kellerman’s high comparison is not the only great one the 38-year-old undisputed champ got after the win. His opponent, Alvarez, who has only been beaten by two other guys in his career, said that Crawford is better than Floyd Mayweather, one of those other two guys.
Crawford had already proven himself by going 41-0 in his career and winning in two other divisions. Still, his legacy was heavily dependent on getting this 42nd win. Against all odds, he made it happen, and the NBA world is majorly elated by it.
