In front of a 70,482-packed Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, Terence Crawford proved that he wasn’t in his first 168-pound category fight by coincidence. Although the entire fight was razor-thin close, it missed a lot of action in the first eight rounds. Crawford, however, got the better of his opponent, the former super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, in the final rounds. To close out, the American landed a series of uppercuts, three-punch combos, and right and left punches as Alvarez tried to get a hold of himself but couldn’t.

Despite a medical emergency when the Mexican head-butted him, Crawford became the only male boxer to capture three unified division titles with a unanimous decision. He clearly proved his doubters wrong yet again. But later, Crawford crashed Alvarez’s post-game press conference, and to many fans’ surprise, he returned the belts he had won just a few minutes before to Alvarez. However, it is not something surprising or new. In fact, it is a customary tradition in boxing, but for clarity, Crawford cleared it out during an interview.

Terence Crawford reveals why he gave up the belts to Canelo Alvarez

When a new champion is named, the ex-champion is allowed to hold the title for a while. Terence Crawford, too, showed his respect to his rival and handed him the belts. Moreover, he’s going to get new ones soon. Other than that, the gesture of handing the titles back also signifies another thing. After the fight, Crawford said, “I’ve got nothing for respect for Canelo, I’m a big fan of Canelo, and he fought like a champion today.” And giving the belts back signified those words along with sportsmanship.

It’s a symbolic act to honor the former champion, who reigned supreme as the top boxer for a fairly long time. But other than that, Terence Crawford claims that he’s going to get his own version of the undisputed super middleweight titles, and that’s why he returned the ones that belong to ‘Sual’. “They [are] his belts,” ‘Bud’ told Stephen A. Smith. “I wanted to be the one to give them back to him… They [are] my belts, but my belt is going to come personalized. Like his belt is personalized… I took his titles. The belt is going home with him.”

Meanwhile, Canelo Alvarez didn’t mince words when it came to praising Terence Crawford, either. After the fight, the 35-year-old favorite for the fight said, “We knew Crawford is a great fighter. I did what I was supposed to do. I trained really hard. He deserved all the credit. I tried my best tonight, and I couldn’t figure out the style. He had everything.” On Saturday night, Crawford looked strong from the get-go. By the end, judges Tim Cheatham and Max DeLuca awarded Crawford 115-113 and Steve Weisfeld 116-112 for the UD win.

Fans not only got to see these two titans of boxing fight in a generational clash, but also saw them embracing each other after the fight, showcasing that the bad blood is only inside the ring and not outside of it. But if anyone thought that preparing for the fight came easily for the Omaha native, it wasn’t so.

Crawford’s coach advised him to go southpaw

Terence Crawford is known for his exceptional switch-hitting ability, which allows him to make effective use of both the southpaw and the orthodox stances. However, he had decided to only go orthodox against Alvarez. His coach, however, had something else in mind.

“I’ve always sparred bigger guys, I’d bully the smaller guys. I used to work on my defence. Fighting at a bigger weight, not having to lose so much, it helped me. I wanted to come out orthodox, but my coaches said southpaw will kill him. That’s what we did tonight,” Terence Crawford told the media. “We knew what he was trying to do: the wide hooks. He knew I was faster, but he then respected my power.”

Although an underdog going into the fight, and certainly not the reason for a historical crowd in Allegiant Stadium, Crawford kept his confidence and let his work speak. Now with a win over Canelo Alvarez on his resume, Terence Crawford might have a few interesting fights out there. But then again, there is also speculation about his retirement. We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out in the future. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.