Terence Crawford names who hit him hardest after 42 career fights

Last month, Terence Crawford announced his retirement from boxing, but when remembering which opponent hit him the hardest throughout his professional career, “Bud” provided an unexpected answer.

Crawford hung up his gloves two months after a decisive victory over Canelo Alvarezas the Omaha-born phenom became the first fighter to become an undisputed three-weight champion in the four-belt era and just the second ever.

This super middleweight triumph is all the more impressive given that Crawford first won world honors as a lightweight, making the victory one of the most impressive triumphs since the turn of the millennium.

However, despite moving up several weight classes to face Canelo, Crawford explained that he didn’t feel overwhelmed by the super middleweight superstar’s punching power. Instead, in the post-fight interview, Crawford named Lithuanian welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas as a harder puncher.

“I’ve been hit harder in a real fight. ‘Mean Machine’ [Kavaliauskas] hit harder than Canelo, for me, to be honest.

Kavaliauskas collided with Crawford in 2019 during his first challenge for a world title, where he was stopped by the American after nine rounds of action. He can, however, claim to be the only man to have abandoned the American star. Although Crawford touching the canvas in the third round was ruled a mistake, most believe the referee should have awarded a knockdown.

The gap was the first of Kavaliauskas’ career, but the 37-year-old has since been overtaken by Vergil Ortiz Jr and Souleymane Cissokho.

The Kaunas contender has since bounced back from his loss to Cissokho, after a controversial win over Samuel Molina at home saw him get his hands on the EBU European welterweight crown and move up to No. 7 in the WBC 147-pound rankings.