Terence Crawford moving up alongside Floyd Mayweather Jr. as the greatest boxer of the 21st century

As recently as five years ago, it was ridiculous to even entertain the notion that Terence Crawford may well be the finest fighter of the 21st century. That distinction belonged exclusively to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and a police officer may have administered a field sobriety test if you'd have suggested then that Crawford belonged in the conversation.

Mayweather dubbed himself TBE, as in, "The Best Ever," and while he was always great, some boxing fans who never heard of Sugar Ray Robinson bought the shtick. Mayweather ended his career 50-0 with titles at 130, 135, 140, 147 and 154 as a pro and an Olympic bronze medal.

He remains one of the great defensive fighters of all-time and, yeah, he may well still be the greatest fighter of the 21st century. But Mayweather was 22-0 with 17 knockouts in the 20th century and was 6-0 in super featherweight title fights.

But after Crawford out-hustled Israil Madrimov, an extraordinarily talented, motivated and in-his-prime opponent to win the WBA and vacant WBO super welterweight titles Saturday at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles via unanimous decision, it's now OK to have that conversation. Judges had it 115-113 twice and 116-112 for Crawford.

He is 41-0 with 31 KOs and quickly zeroing in on Mayweather's 50-0 mark. He's won titles at 135, 140, 147 and now 154, and was undisputed at both 140 and 147, a distinction Mayweather, for all of his greatness, never achieved.

Give Crawford credit, too: He chose to fight Madrimov, a veteran of around 350 amateur fights whose talent and boxing IQ far surpassed his 11 pro fights entering the bout. Madrimov is 29 and out of nowhere found himself in a massive fight in which he had little to lose and everything to gain.

He fought brilliantly, playing chess with Crawford over 12 tough, tenacious rounds. He was marked up after the battle, which he and promoter Eddie Hearn thought he'd won, but so, too, was Crawford.

"Israil was strong, man," Crawford said, "but I knew he would be. He was very strong."

The burning question after the fight was whether Crawford would be willing to face Canelo Alvarez, who was the undisputed champion at super middleweight until he was stripped for not fighting a warm body named William Scull. Alvarez has a Sept. 14 title defense against Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas that should, if Alvarez takes it seriously, be a walk in the park for him.

Crawford has wanted an Alvarez fight since he obliterated former unbeaten unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. last year. Alvarez has been indifferent at best, and said he doesn't see what he gains by beating a much smaller man. When Alvarez didn't bite, Crawford moved on to Madrimov.

Turki Alalshikh, whom boxing promoters were fawning over Saturday as if they were testorone-fueled teen-agers and he was the only pretty girl at the prom, said that he'll make an offer to Alvarez to fight Crawford should Alvarez defeat Berlanga. If Alvarez declines, Alalshikh said he'd like to see Vergil Ortiz Jr., one of the other super welterweight champions who has an Aug. 10 title defense against Serhii Bohachuk, to be next.

Asked why a bout with Alvarez was so important to him, Crawford provided a surprising answer.

"It's not important to me," he said. "It's just another milestone to greatness, I suppose. And, financially wise, [it's important]."

It would be massive for his legacy if he could do that. If he did, he'd have a serious argument to be the best boxer of the 21st century. That is Mayweather now, though others like Andre Ward, Manny Pacquiao and current champions Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue have to be in that discussion.

If Crawford were to beat Alvarez -- And that looks even more difficult for him to do after seeing the bout with Madrimov Saturday -- he'd be all but a lock to retire as the King of the 21st Century. 

We thought Mayweather was a once in a lifetime fighter, but here is a guy before our very eyes pretty much doing the same things as "Money May" did on his way to fame, fortune, glory, fortune and, yeah, more fortune.

The bottom line is that's a mythical discussion that has no right answer. 

What is right, though, is that Crawford is every bit the equal of every other man who stepped foot inside a boxing ring in the 21st century.