Death, triumph in boxing world in one day

THE boxing world was greeted on Sunday, September 14 (Manila time) with two shocking but contrasting news involving two of its most well-known athletes.

In the first instance, two-division unified world champion Terrence Crawford, 37, of the United States outpointed world unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez of Mexico during their 12-rounds fight in Las Vegas, cheered on by more than 70,000 ticket-paying audience.

The unanimous points victory, which many so-called ‘experts’ claim can only come as an “upset,” made Crawford (now 42-0, 31 knockouts), a third division unified champion, the second man in boxing to ever did so thus far.

Prior to the bout, Crawford is a 5-divisions world champion and a unified world champion in the super lightweight and the welterweight divisions. He then jumped two more weight classes to face Canelo, 35, presently Mexico’s most admired athlete.

With the victory, Crawford would be the second man in boxing after Henry Armstrong (Henry Jackson Jr. in real life) to become a unified champion in 3 weight classes. Armstrong (December 12, 1912 – October 22, 1988) was world champion in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions, all at the same time.

Before facing Canelo, Crawford is also the third man in the present ‘4-belts era’ to be crowned “undisputed champion” in two weight classes together with Olexander Usyk of Ukraine, unified world champion in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions and Naoya Inoue of Japan, unified world champion in the bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions.

Alvarez, (62-2-2 39 knockouts before the fight) is the undisputed king of the super middleweight division since 2021.

Previously, his two losses came in the hands of Floyd Mayweather for his World Boxing Council (WBC) super welterweight title in 2013 and against Dimitry Bivol in 2022, for the latter’s World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight crown.

Ricky Hatton, dead at 46

In the other shocking news, Britain’s former 2-divisions world champion, Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton, 46, was found dead inside his house in Manchester, England. British media reports said Hatton’s passing was “not deemed suspicious.”

Hatton compiled a record of 45, wins,3 losses and 32 knockouts during a career spanning more than 15 years and was again planning to comeback thru an exhibition match in the Middle East this December.

Hatton was world champion in the light-welterweight division in 2005 and became the WBA’s welterweight champion the following year.

All his three losses, however, came via stoppage in the hands of Mayweather in 2007 in the tenth round for the WBC welterweight title, against Manny Pacquiao in 2009 in the second round for the world lineal light-welterweight title.

Three years later, in 2012, Hatton tried to stage a comeback by going against former WBA welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchesko of Ukraine but was knocked out in the ninth round.

Of all his losses, Hatton admitted that it was his loss to Pacquiao that was the most devastating, sending him to depression and to illegal drugs and alcohol abuse.

Inoue retains undisputed title

In another boxing match also on Sunday that is not actually worth reporting extensively due to the expected result, Japan’s pride, Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue scored an easy 12 rounds unanimous decision for his undisputed super bantamweight title against former IBF super bantamweight champion, Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan at the IG Arena in Nagoya.

Inoue now improves his unblemished record to 31 wins, 27 of them by stoppage.

Akhmadaliev, meanwhile, drops his record to 14-2 with 11 knockouts.