Terence Crawford hung up the gloves last year knowing his place amongst the welterweight and pound-for-pound legends was cemented, but there is one former 147lb ruler who Shane Mosley believes would have got the better of ‘Bud’ if they had competed in the same era.
Crawford outpointed Ricky Burns to claim the WBO lightweight world title back in 2014 and defended that belt on two occasions before moving up to super-lightweight, where he knocked out Thomas Dulorme to pick up the 140lb title on debut.
In 2017, the then unified titlist Crawford became the third undisputed champion of the four-belt era, stopping Julius Indongo inside three rounds to capture the remaining two straps at the weight, then moving onto the welterweight scene.
At welterweight is where Crawford truly flourished and proved his pound-for-pound talent, securing wins over Amir Khan, Kell Brook and Shawn Porter and then dominating and halting rival Errol Spence Jr to become the undisputed king at a second weight division – the first to achieve that feat as a four-belt champion.
Crawford fought just twice more, decisioning both Israil Madrimov and Canelo Alvarez to claim gold at super-welterweight and the undisputed throne at super-middleweight, with the latter being a win that will be talked about for generations to come.
Yet, on the ‘Mi Gallo Boxing Podcast’, hosted by two-time middleweight title challenger Gabriel Rosado, two-division world champion Mosley declared his belief that ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard would have had too much for the Omaha-born switch-hitter.
Leonard was a five-weight world champion, but it was at 147lbs where he managed to claim undisputed honours after wins over his fellow ‘Four Kings’ rivals Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns, along with his first world title triumph against Wilfred Benitez.
It is those accolades that show why Leonard was such a force in the welterweight division, and why Mosley believes he would have had been able to earn a victory against Crawford.
As for ‘Bud’ himself, whilst he seems set to stick to retirement, the 38-year-old does reportedly have a lucrative offer on the table, should he wish to make a return.
