The famous American trainer Teddy Atlas said that he considers the best boxer of 2023 to be the unified world welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
“Naoya Inoue is pretty damn special. During the year, he defeated twice: Stephen Fulton, whom many gave a chance to win, and then Marlon Tapales, a strong and very active fighter. So I understand why Inoue is chosen, but for me the best is Crawford. I know that people can argue with me: Teddy, he only had one fight in a year. Yes, but did you see who he fought with?
The question is not that Crawford won, but how he did it. He tore Spence literally into pieces. He was like a surgeon, removing piece after piece from Spence until it became hard to look at. It was hard to watch him tear apart a guy who was one of the pound-for-pound tops. That's the point.
Crawford wouldn't have taken this spot if he had beaten someone else, but it was Spence. To tear apart a fighter of this class, of this value, and in such a way, is wow,” Atlas said in an interview with ProBox TV.
