Terence Crawford tops Canelo, joins Michigander as only 3-division undisputed champions in 4-belt era

LAS VEGAS – Terence Crawford joins Flint native Claressa Shields as the only boxers to achieve undisputed champion status in three different weight classes in the four-belt era after defeating Canelo Álvarez in the fight of the century.

Shields achieved her historic moment back in February of 2025 when she defeated Danielle Perkins inside Little Caesars Arena.

With the victory, Crawford, on Saturday (Sept. 13), improved to 42-0-0 with 31 knockouts while winning the undisputed super middleweight championship, which includes the WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC super middleweight titles as well as the Ring Magazine championship inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Netflix.

The atmosphere was fantastic as boxing fans from around the world packed the home of legendary NFL owner Al Davis and the Las Vegas Raiders to see what many have called “The Fight of the Century.”

The sweet science of boxing sometimes offers fighters who are willing to put their skills to the test and throw a Hail Mary to achieve greatness.

Boxers like Crawford come once in a generation, as he has followed those footsteps to challenge for greatness, risking his undefeated record to move up two weight classes to cement his legacy as one of boxing’s greatest ever, as he pulled off the upset of Álvarez, who is the current face of boxing.

The talk of the fight mainly focused on the size difference between Álvarez and Crawford.

Still, it’s not always about how much bigger one fighter is compared to their opponent, as it also showcases a fighter’s skill, heart, and strategies that led Crawford to victory.

Throughout history, many champions have dared to test themselves this way.

Sometimes, that challenge proved too great, especially against a future all-time legend in the sport.

Quests like what Crawford achieved had been done before, rarely being achieved by the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Grand Rapids native Floyd Mayweather Jr., Detroit’s own Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns (Cobo Hall, 1987 vs. Dennis Andries), and Roy Jones Jr., to name a few.

Speaking of legends out of the city, Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons, was in attendance alongside Hearns, who were both shown on the Jumbotron ahead of the bout.

Erving Magic Johnson was in attendance as well.

Back to boxing, also in 1987, “Sugar” Ray Leonard stepped up from being an elite welterweight world champion to challenge “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler for the middleweight crown and emerged victorious in a historic fight.

Coming into the fight, Crawford competed with Hagler as the best switch-hitters in the sport.

With the victory, Bud is now being compared to some of the greatest boxers of all time.

1st round

After all the pomp and circumstance, Crawford came out on his toes, bouncing and landing some impactful one-two punches to start the round to the dismay of the pro Álvarez crowd.

2nd round

Crawford’s long reach and quick hands seemed to frustrate Álvarez as Bud continued to connect on a few pop shots in the southpaw stance.

When Álvarez landed punches, Crawford shook his head in denial as if the punches didn’t hurt.

It was a counter masterclass, but Álvarez did land some mean body shots in the round.

3rd round

Álvarez started picking up the pace to open the round as his fans started feeling antsy, letting off a building rattling chant of “Canelo.”

Bud continued to move and land pop shots and tactical counters, popping the head of Álvarez, who ended the round with a nice body shot to Bud.

4th round

Bud started letting his hands go as the crowd started to turn in his favor.

Álvarez landed a nice punch to the face, followed by a nasty body shot.

Bud head started snapping back in the round as both fighters are starting to let their hands go.

Crawford was seen smiling on the Jumbotron after landing a few punches to Álvarez, who caught Bud with a nice shot to end the round.

Álvarez started to connect to end the round, which brought a bigger smile to the face of Bud.

5th round

Both men caught each other with beautiful counter punches as they started to find themselves in the center of the ring.

Álvarez started getting frustrated and lifted Bud up with under 10 seconds to go in the round.

Bud landed clean through five rounds while steadily bouncing on his toes.

Crawford Álvarez landed a nice punch to the face, followed by a nasty body shot. shots and continued to land them ahead of the sixth round.

6th round

Bud continued to let his hands go, popping Álvarez‘s head back.

Crawford was sticking his tongue out as his confidence started to grow in the superfight.

Bud was in a groove as the pro-Mexican crowd continued to try to will their guy on.

Bud was sticking and moving in the round, and Álvarez‘s face started turning red while a mouse started to form under his left and right eyes.

7th round

Both men came out aggressive in the seventh as Bud literally started licking his chops with the taste of victory potentially on the horizon.

The majority of the punches by both men were blocked as the crowd started booing with one minute to go in the round.

Álvarez has been known to struggle against left-handed fighters in his career, and Bud, who usually switches stances when he fights, remained in the southpaw stance.

8th round

Crawford was in control of the fight thus far, landing triple body shots to Álvarez, who caught Bud and jabbed to the face.

The men started bouncing around in the eighth as the crowd started booing once again due to the lack of action.

Álvarez landed a nice combination before Bud tied him up as the round got under 20 seconds to go.

Crawford once again started sticking his tongue out as the round ended, as he was highly confident.

Bud was even seen smiling while sitting on his stool.

9th round

Álvarez came out aggressive before both men stood toe to toe and started exchanging blows, which got the fans hyped.

The fight was moving along until Álvarez headbutted Crawford, which drew a pause by the referee.

When the fight resumed, Álvarez started connecting, catching Crawford with stiff shots.

Álvarez came out aggressive before both men stood toe to toe and started exchanging blows, which got the fans hyped.

Crawford started getting cheered with under 40 seconds to go in the round, until he started riding his bicycle for a few seconds, which drew more boos.

Bud frustrated Álvarez early on, and it showed throughout the remainder of the fight.

10th round

In the championship rounds, both men caught each other with clean shots.

Álvarez started smelling blood in the water as he started stalking and roughhousing Bud in the round.

Crawford came back with a three-punch combination, but Álvarez landed some good punches.

11th round

Álvarez entered the round more aggressively, but most of his shots were misses.

Crawford started landing the bigger punches, including some fierce uppercuts to the amazement of the pro-Álvarez crowd.

Álvarez started looking deflated as he paused after a few clean shots landed by Bud.

Bud had been calling Álvarez out for two years, and fans started seeing why as he was three minutes away from making history.

12th round

The final round all but sealed what we saw in the previous 11 rounds as Bud continued to land clean and frustrate Álvarez.

After exchanging to end the round, Crawford went to the middle of the ring and took a knee as he knew he outworked Álvarez while sealing the heist of the century as he was on the verge of making history.

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