I remember back in July of 2005 on the 16th, to be exact, I witness the changing of champions in the middleweight division between long time undisputed champion Bernard Hopkins and Olympic medalist Jermaine Taylor. The fight was not a barn burner or some back and forth classic. It was more of a passing along the torch as Bernard Hopkins was unable to keep up with the bigger stronger young fighter in Taylor even though the champion had his moments. In a close tactical bout, Taylor walked away with all four belts in the division. Before that fight in September of 2004, Hopkins (WBC/IBF/WBA) stepped in the ring with
Oscar De la Hoya (WBO) to unify the division for middleweight supremacy. We all know how the fight ended (if not go watch Hopkins’ highlights on Youtube).
Anyways that was one of the last times we seen four belts unified in a division until last Saturday (August 19, 2017). The year 2001 was the last time we witness a undisputed 140 pound champion when Kostya Tzsyu unified with fellow champion Zab Judah. (#JABpodcast episode 5 I made a mistake and said 2005.)
Fast forward 16 years later.
Terence Crawford was able to build his collection of belts, adding the WBA and IBF titles to his WBC, WBO and Ring title to take over the super lightweight division. In a fight that I thought would have been a handful for Crawford, Bud was able to again prove to many that he is levels above anyone in his division. After round one, we seen just how much more gifted a fighter Crawford is than his opponent, Julius Indongo. Indongo is definitely not a fighter to knock because in his previous fights, he showed the determination and skill level he possessed over those champions. Terence Crawford is a different animal. He is always thinking one step ahead of his opponent, and he is already knowing of what his challenge is going to try. Again Indongo is not a soft touch as he has proven in the past, but Crawford is a fighter who is not just thinking of the present, he is also thinking of legacy and how he wants to be remembered. Now that he holds all four belts, there’s no question about who the champion in his division is, or whose ducking who? Fights like this are what all sanctioning bodies should push for because even though you have all these different belts, boxing is one sport! Each belt holder can only hold a belt for so long, until someone demands all four champions need to battle it out in a division to prove who is the champion. I know belts mean more money and maybe more opportunities for young fighters, but if a fighter is as good as he claims, he will go for all belts and become the only champion.
Congratulations to Bud!!!