Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Terence Crawford faces more difficult challenges at junior middleweight

After the way in which Terence Crawford broke down and finished Errol Spence Jr. in their long-awaited undisputed welterweight clash last summer, it was hard to blame the new legion of fans "Bud" acquired for believing the same thing would happen against every other opponent. 

But Crawford, who turns 37 in September, sat out more than a year before returning to the ring last Saturday and was greeted with a career-best performance from unbeaten WBA champion Israil Madrimov in Crawford's debut at 154 pounds. 

In the end, Crawford did just enough to hold off his opponent and raise up a world title in a fourth weight division. In fact, the company Crawford now keeps of fighters who have won titles at both 135 and 154 pounds is a who's who of contemporary history: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker and Roberto Duran. 

For anyone who thought Crawford finding himself in a technical thriller against a guy with just 10 pro fights didn't take into account Madrimov's 350-bout amateur career or the fact that he raised his game several levels to hang with Crawford while snapping the pound-for-pound great's 11-fight knockout streak in the process. 

No, Crawford didn't get old in front of our eyes. Instead, he dug deeper and found a way to win against a bigger opponent whose greatest strength was how well he stuck to his gameplan and never made the kind of mistakes that Crawford typically seizes upon to bring an end to the fight, usually in the second half. 

Crawford may not be the same quick-twitch athletic as he was five or even 10 years ago, but he's still among the smartest and most cunning boxers of the modern era. And his move up in weight did nothing but showcase that as Crawford held off a late rally from Madrimov to demonstratively win the final round on all three scorecards by landing huge combinations in search of a KO that wasn't meant to be. 

If there is any negative for Crawford in the fallout of possibly the toughest fight of his career, it was the fact that his debut at junior middleweight humanized him in some ways against a younger and stronger opponent. The result is that most of boxing has seen enough to realize that Crawford's initial dream of moving up three weight classes from welterweight to challenge super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez at 168 pounds is no longer a viable choice. 

Alvarez has never wanted the fight at all and has been steadfast upon the reason that he would never get credit for beating a smaller opponent. And even the man who bankrolled Saturday's fight card  -- Turki Alashikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's general entertainment authority -- switched gears by saying he would, instead, like to match Crawford in the future against more suitably sized foes like Tim Tszyu, Jaron "Boots" Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr.

In the meantime, Crawford still has plenty of interesting names in and around the 154-pound division to consider. It all comes down to how much longer he wants to keep fighting and whether he believes there are enough big-money opportunities out there to significantly add something to his career resume. 

But is Crawford losing a step? Those that know can watch the tape of the Madrimov fight for themselves. And what they will see is a master boxer with a mean streak who is still very much at the top of his game. 

Only, he's at a weight class that will naturally demand much more of him moving forward to win those fights as easily as Crawford has previously made it look between 135 and 147 pounds. And there's nothing more entertaining than the idea of finding out just how long he can keep this unbeaten record intact.

Using a criteria that takes into account everything from accomplishments to current form, let's take a closer look at the top fighters inside the ring. Below is the latest Pound for Pound rankings update after Crawford's win in August.

Pound-for-Pound Rankings

1. Oleksandr Usyk

Undisputed heavyweight champion (22-0, 14 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 1

Usyk's professional run has been as decorated as it has been perfect. The former undisputed cruiserweight champ scored a pair of resounding victories over Anthony Joshua to unify a trio of heavyweight titles before finally getting his undisputed clash against WBC champion Tyson Fury in May. An exciting, split-decision victory made Usyk just the third male boxer to become undisputed champion in two divisions during the four-belt era. 

2. Naoya Inoue

Undisputed junior featherweight champion (24-0, 22 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 2

The four-division champion who has reached undisputed status in at two different weight classes only continued his legendary takeover of the sport by rising from the canvas to finish Luis Nery in their May title bout at the Tokyo Dome. "The Monster" may have endured a brief misstep but he made up for the error by scoring three thrilling knockdowns en route to a sixth-round knockout. Unbeaten mandatory challenger Sam Goodman looks to be next.

3. Terence Crawford

WBA junior middleweight champion (40-0, 29 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 3

In his long-awaited return from his dismantling of Errol Spence Jr. last summer, Crawford moved up to 154 pounds to narrowly hold off WBA champion Israel Madrimov. The fight not only turned out to be among the toughest of Crawford's career, it has significantly removed the interest many had in seeing him fight Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight. 

4. Artur Beterbiev

Unified light heavyweight champion (20-0, 20 KOs) | Previous ranking: 4

Beterbiev turned away any whispers that he was getting old by dismantling former 168-pound champion Callum Smith in January. With his mandatories out of the way, an undisputed showdown against WBA champion Dmitry Bivol was scheduled for June 1. But the 39-year-old Beterbiev pulled out in May with a ruptured meniscus, which moved the fight to October.

5. Dmitry Bivol

WBA light heavyweight champion (23-0, 12 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 5

Following an incredible 2022, which included a victory over Canelo Alvarez and almost universal acclaim as the fighter of the year, Bivol sat out most of 2023 in hopes of facing unified champion Artur Beterbiev. Their undisputed title clash was set for June 1 until Beterbiev suffered a major injury, forcing Bivol to face replacement Malik Zinad. The new date for Beterbiev will be Oct. 12.

6. Canelo Alvarez

Unified super middleweight champion (61-2-2, 38 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 6

The former P4P king is still unified champion at 168 pounds and he proved just that by brilliantly outdueling countryman Jaime Munguia in May. Despite constant pressure from fans and media to fight former two-time champion David Benavidez, Alvarez will return in September to face unbeaten -- yet unproven -- Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas. 

7. Gervonta Davis

WBA lightweight champion (30-0, 28 KOs) | Previous ranking: 7

Davis' body-shot knockout of Ryan Garcia in their superfight last April looks even better now that "King Ryan" became the first boxer to drop and defeat former undisputed lightweight king Devin Haney. With a 2023 jail sentence behind him, "Tank" returned in June to obliterate unbeaten Frank Martin. Davis wants champions from here on out, which could mean unification fights against Shakur Stevenson or Vasiliy Lomachenko.

8. Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez

Flyweight, junior bantamweight titleholder (20-0, 13 KOs) | Previous ranking: 8

The 24-year-old phenom from San Antonio landed just shy of 50% of his power shots to dismantle 115-pound titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada in July. Estrada, a future Hall of Famer, has chosen to activate a rematch clause, which would delay Rodriguez from accepting his dream fight against former pound-for-pound king Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. 

9. Shakur Stevenson

WBC lightweight champion (22-0, 10 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 9

Even though he was nearly booed out of the arena -- in his hometown, no less -- while defending his title against Artem Harutyunyun in July, Stevenson limited his opponent to just 17% of punches landed overall and single digits in all but one round. The three-division champion remains under fire from boxing's court of public opinion who demand more in-ring excitement as he enters promotional free agency. Yet, Stevenson remains among the purest practitioners the sport has to offer.

10. David Benavidez

Interim light heavyweight titleholder (29-0, 24 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 10

Frustrated with waiting around for his shot at undisputed 168-pound king Canelo Alvarez, "El Monstro" moved up in weight to outclass former champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June. Benavidez, who later revealed injuries to both hands during training camp (which may have prevented him from scoring a stoppage), said he will focus on light heavyweight moving forward and wants the winner of Beterbiev-Bivol in October. 

Dropped out: None
Honorable mention: Teofimo Lopez Jr., Vasiliy Lomachenko, Tyson Fury, Devin Haney, Junto Nakatani