Terence Crawford etched his face on boxing's Mount Rushmore his way

Terence Crawford responded to moving up two weight classes to take on the face of boxing by etching his own face on the sweet science Mount Rushmore.

The pound-for-pound best declared himself the greatest fighter of this era — and possibly ever — with  a rousing unanimous decision over Canelo Alvarez  at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Saturday night, and before millions watching on Netflix.

His most resounding victory yet had Crawford putting himself in rarefied air as the only man in boxing history to win an undisputed crown in three different divisions: super lightweight, welterweight and super middleweight. (Claressa Shields was the first to achieve undisputed world championships in three different divisions for the women).

Most satisfying is the Omaha, Nebraska man did it his way with his latest victory spelling retribution as much as a celebration.

"Anybody could be a nobody," Crawford told Netflix' panel following his win. "Like I said, a lot of people doubted me, a lot of people said I haven't fought anybody, I can't sell, I don't have no personality, they just wrote me off for years and years. It all came to a halt tonight."

It sure did. 

For years Crawford had to endure hearing he never fought quality opponents and that he was on the wrong side of the street as the perceived better fighters were with Premier Boxing Champions.

'Bud' heard the noise, put his head down and kept grinding away following his undisputed super lightweight world championship by setting his sights on conquering 147 pounds. His first step in that journey came in June 2018 when he flattened Jeff Horn via ninth-round TKO to claim the WBO welterweight title.

Unable to get a bigger-name opponent to share the ring with him, Crawford kept rumbling his way through opponents, defending his lone title against the likes of Jose Benavidez Jr., Amir Khan, Egidijus Kavaliauskas and Kell Brook — knocking them all out.

A break came when he got friend Shawn Porter, who was with PBC, to meet him for a clash in November 2021. With select boxing critics wondering how he'd fare against a former champion like 'Showtime,' Crawford silenced detractors with a 10th-round stoppage of Porter. A sixth title defense — via a knockout of David Avanesyan a year later — and Crawford  finally  got the fight that evaded him for years in a showdown with fellow-undefeated fighter, Errol Spence Jr.

Many felt like Spence, the then-unified welterweight world champ, was too big and strong for Crawford.

Critics and fans alike perceived their July 2023 mega bout as a 50-50 fight.

Then came that night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where 'Bud' destroyed that perception by delivering a ninth-round beatdown of Spence in an undeniably scintillating performance to earn him an undisputed world championship in a second division — the first man to ever accomplish the feat.

But shortly after defeating Israil Madrimov by unanimous decision to become a junior middleweight titleholder last summer, the then-four-division world champion took aim even higher — at Canelo Alvarez.

The biggest box-office draw in boxing for the past decade, Alvarez was unbeaten at super middleweight, a perfect 11-0.

Crawford called for a fight with Alvarez, telling anyone who would listen that it is the only fight he wants — so much so that he was willing to move up two weight classes to 168 pounds to make it happen.

At the onset of the proposed dream fight, Alvarez dismissed the idea, saying he wouldn't stand to gain anything from beating a smaller fighter.

Crawford, unbothered, persisted and with the help of His Excellency Turki Alalshikh the improbable super fight was signed and delivered with Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, serving as its host.

At 37, Crawford heard all the questions: Would he be able to withstand Canelo's power? Would the extra weight help or hinder his performance against the Mexican warrior? Was his career already in decline after a harder-than-expected win over Madrimov?

Again, Crawford put his head down and trudged through, telling anyone who would listen to allow him to provide all answers Saturday, September 13.

When the mega fight night finally rolled around, it became clear quickly that Crawford's brand of boxing brilliance was one that Canelo could not figure out.

Just like that, 'Bud' joined Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Dmitry Bivol as the only men to outbox and defeat Alvarez.

But in doing so, he accomplished what Mayweather, Bivol, Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue have not — being crowned undisputed in three different weight classes.

For that, Terence Crawford is the best fighter of his era, having put himself on boxing's Mount Rushmore his way as one of the greatest fighters ever — if not the GOAT, period.