'I Was Kinda Disappointed … That It Took This Long For Me To Get My Recognition' - Crawford Shared His Thoughts After Becoming 2x Undisputed Champion
Following his triumphant win against Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford confessed to experiencing a whirlwind of emotions. The victory, which took place two months ago at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, saw Crawford from Omaha, Nebraska, become the undisputed welterweight champion after halting Spence in the ninth round. In a recent conversation, Crawford expressed that, post-fight, his feelings varied from sheer joy to a sense of relief. Despite his victory over Spence, he also mentioned feeling “disappointed.” His sentiment stems from his belief that the recognition he rightfully deserved seemed to have been delayed in his career. As he approaches his 36th birthday in September, Crawford, boasting a record of 40-0 with 31 KOs, has often faced skepticism regarding his true stature in the welterweight division. Additionally, the politics surrounding boxing seemed to have kept him from landing significant matches. Discussing his emotions, Crawford shared with Joe Rogan:
“That’s what my feelings was. A lot of people were like, ‘Man, you didn’t look too happy after you won. I didn’t see the excitement in you.’ I was like, man, I was happy. I was happy I had to prove myself to the world how great I knew I was. But at the same time, I was kinda disappointed at the same time that it took this long for me to get my recognition, for me to get a big marquee fight at this status, at 35 years old.”Crawford went on to detail his long pursuit of a match against Manny Pacquiao, which spanned almost half a decade before his bout with Spence. Being a champion for nearly a decade, Crawford lamented not always securing the big challenges he sought after. However, he takes pride in his accomplishments, being the first to achieve undisputed status in both junior welterweight and welterweight divisions during the four-belt era. Reflecting on the aftermath of the Spence fight, Crawford mentioned:
“You know, when you go in the back room and everybody want to see the excitement and I was just like, ‘I got that off my back.’ It was a sign of relief.”
