Crawford has more on his to-do list, so not time to look back just yet
Pound-for-pound king moves up to challenge Madrimov for title in 4th division, then wants to go up two more for Canelo showdown
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LOS ANGELES — Terence Crawford isn’t ready to sit back and reflect on his Hall of Fame-level career just yet, not while he is still at his best, viewed by many as the No. 1 fighter in the world and making eight figures per fight.
He knows there will be time for that when he’s retired. That is when he can look back and enjoy all he has done: pound-for-pound king; one of three men (along with Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk) to be an undisputed champion in two divisions (junior welterweight and welterweight) in the four-belt era; three-division champion (also lightweight); reigning unified welterweight champion; and fighter of the year winner.
But even the tunnel-visioned Crawford allowed himself a moment this week to think about his career and appreciate it.
“I’m ready to fight but all my people always try to remind me to enjoy the moment because one day it’s all going to be gone, so embrace it while you can,” Crawford said. “Like I always say everything happens for a reason and for that reason God didn’t bless me (during a troubled young adulthood), but he blessed me now when I’m more mature and can handle everything that comes my way. Who knows where I would have been had I got everything that I wanted when he was younger and immature.”
The mature Crawford is now onto his next goal, focused on winning a world title in a fourth weight class when he challenges Israil Madrimov for the WBA junior middleweight title and the vacant WBO interim belt in the main event of a Riyadh Season-backed card on Saturday (DAZN PPV, PPV.com, ESPN+ PPV, Prime Video PPV, 6 p.m. ET, $79.99) at BMO Stadium.
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