Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Terence Crawford faces more difficult challenges at junior middleweight

'Bud' picked up the win on Saturday, but got more of a challenge than most expected for him from Israil Madrimov

After the way in which Terence Crawford broke down and finished Errol Spence Jr. in their long-awaited undisputed welterweight clash last summer, it was hard to blame the new legion of fans "Bud" acquired for believing the same thing would happen against every other opponent. 

But Crawford, who turns 37 in September, sat out more than a year before returning to the ring last Saturday and was greeted with a career-best performance from unbeaten WBA champion Israil Madrimov in Crawford's debut at 154 pounds. 

In the end, Crawford did just enough to hold off his opponent and raise up a world title in a fourth weight division. In fact, the company Crawford now keeps of fighters who have won titles at both 135 and 154 pounds is a who's who of contemporary history: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Pernell Whitaker and Roberto Duran.