World champion says Terence Crawford isn’t a true legend: “He retired before facing the young lions”

Terence Crawford has been receiving plenty of plaudits since he hung up the gloves in December, but there is one reigning world champion who believes that ‘Bud’ is far from the ‘legend’ that he is being portrayed as.

Last year, Crawford beat Canelo Alvarez to claim the undisputed super-middleweight world title and, in doing so, became the first post-war three-division undisputed champion and just the second fighter in boxing history to achieve that feat – joining Henry Armstrong in an exclusive club.

Off the back of that win, ‘Bud’ made the decision to walk away from the sport at the age of 38 years old, refusing a lucrative offer for a rematch with the Mexican superstar.

One man seemingly wasn’t impressed with that decision, as speaking to FightHype, WBC welterweight champion Ryan Garcia explained why he believes Crawford damaged his legacy by retiring.

“I don’t f**k with him, at all, and I would love to fight him but he is already retired, see. He got out before the young and hungry fighters came through, he knew that the young lions were coming in. He owes me.

“Every great champion does it, you have got to fight one of those young, hungry motherf***ers. Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman when George Foreman was a young, hungry animal, that is what made him into a legend.

“Terence Crawford is not a legend yet, I don’t know why people are trying to talk about ‘he is a legend’. He is an all-time-great, he is a Hall-of-Famer, but a legend? Nah, not even close. There’s a lot of big moments that should have happened, I am here to become a legend. 

“He owes me a fight, he owes [Jaron] Ennis a fight, he owes Vergil Ortiz Jr. a fight, he should of ran it. He still had so much in the tank. They are trying to act like he was old and had injuries, bro didn’t have none of that s**t.”

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Garcia’s words are the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between he and the Omaha switch-hitter, whom he believes he could tempt out of retirement if successful against Conor Benn on Saturday, September 12.