Crawford's years of toil rewarded with career-defining win

Victory over sport's biggest star was ideal response to critics who dismissed his opponents as 'nobodies'

- Bryan Armen Graham

When the scores were read out and the task was accomplished, Terence Crawford dropped to one knee in the centre of the ring and wept. After more than a decade of waiting for the moment that would amplify his greatness beyond the paywalled enclave of modern boxing, the 37-year-old from Omaha had just outpointed the sport's biggest star, Canelo Alvarez, before more than 70,000 fans in Las Vegas and millions more on Netflix. It was the career-defining victory he had never stopped believing would eventually come with hard work and dedication to his craft.

Patience has always been Crawford's greatest asset. Inside the ring, he is the consummate problem-solver, content to let an opponent show their patterns, then dismantling them. Outside it, he endured years of frustration, denied the paydays and opponents his gifts merited, waiting for the one night that could not be ignored any more. On Saturday, both sides of that discipline were vindicated.