Does Terence Crawford deserve 2016 ‘Fighter of the Year’?

WBA/WBO 140lb champion Terence Crawford chocked up his third win of 2016 in pasting John Molina Jr. by a 8th round knockout. Crawford hit Molina with two good body shots that took the air out of his tires and finished him off in his corner for the knockout at the CenturyLink Arena in Omaha, Nebraska.

Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) now is waiting for the sport to vote him in as the 2016 Fighter of the Year for his three wins over Molina Jr. (29-7, 23 KOs), Viktor Postol and Hank Lundy.

Crawford’s fight against Molina Jr. was shown by HBO Championship Boxing. The results of the fight had HBO broadcaster Max Kellerman singing the praises of Crawford, and asking him if he’d be willing to fight Errol Spence. Crawford said he wouldn’t mind fighting Spence, but he wants to fight Manny Pacquiao and unify the light welterweight division.

It’s subjective thing when a fighter is given a ‘Fighter of the Year’ award. There are so many different fighters in boxing that it’s kind of political when one guy gets the award. I don’t know that Crawford’s resume for 2016 would warrant him getting the Fighter of the Year award over another fighter.

Look at the guys that Crawford beat in 2016:

– Hank Lundy – He’s a bottom fringe contender in the 140lb division. Should beating him mean that you’re a fighter of the year? Is so, then why? Other fighters have beaten Lundy and it hasn’t turned them into fighter of the year. Why should Crawford be a fighter of the year.

– Viktor Post – This was a very good win for Crawford. There’s no doubting this win. The only negtative thing you can say about the win was that Crawford spent much of the fight moving around the ring, especially in the 12th round when Postol was trying to knock him out. For a fighter of the year, you don’t like to see him fleeing the battle field the way that Crawford was against Postol in the later rounds.

– John Molina Jr. – He had lost 3 out of his last 5 fights going into the Crawford fight. Need I say more?

“I had three of the better fights,” said Crawford to Fight News. “I stopped Lundy earlier than anyone else, I fought a guy that most people wouldn’t face and closed it out with a knockout. I’ve always been that way. I want people to say ‘There goes Terence, he’s not just one of the champions in the division…he has all the belts.”