LAS VEGAS — If you’re lucky as a boxing fan, a given era in time will produce the kind of boxer who transcends the greatness around him and becomes the default measuring stick for everyone who comes after.
In the 10 years since the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao superfight effectively brought an end to the post-Roy Jones Jr. era that was dominated by both, fans of the sweet science have been witness to the exploits of living legends such as Canelo Alvarez, Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue.
But if the last three performances from Terence Crawford are any indication, which includes Saturday’s scintillating performance in Las Vegas by the five-division champion in effectively rising three weight divisions to capture the undisputed super middleweight championship from Alvarez, the era immediately following Mayweather-Pacquiao just might have its new best in class.
For all of the fight-week narratives about the size difference between the two fighters, or the extensive coverage dedicated to all of the peripheral elements of the event — from UFC CEO Dana White’s promotional debut to the presence of Netflix, Allegiant Stadium and Saudi Arabian financier Turki Alalshikh — Crawford’s breathtaking greatness will undoubtedly be the prevailing memory from the weekend.
In the end, the only size difference in the main event, contested in front of more than 70,000 fans in the first combat sports event at the NFL’s Raiders stadium, was that of the fire in Crawford’s belly, the remaining chips on his shoulder to keep proving himself and the surprisingly sizable gap in ski
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