Pacquiao, Crawford, Golovkin: Weight jumping or one-division domination – which is more impressive?

Since the beginning of the four belt era, becoming a multi-division champion has been viewed as the path to greatness – but is there still credit in dominating in one division?

Legacy is a vague word that seems to carry a lot of weight in the boxing world as fans and pundits engage in a never-ending debate over how their favourite fighters match up against each other.

Disagreements over the value of certain achievements or the quality of opposition faced plague the sport, not allowing fans to enjoy great fighters for what they are.

An example of such a debate is Gennady Golovkin’s inclusion on the 2026 International Boxing Hall of Fame Ballot.

Fierce disagreements have taken place online, with one side arguing that ‘GGG’ was the most dominant and avoided middleweight champion in the history of the sport, and the others that Golovkin did not face the quality of opponents required to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Similarly, Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo Alvarez, making him a five-division world champion and a three-weight undisputed champion, has divided opinion, as on paper it is an all-time great achievement alongside the likes of Floyd Mayweather and Oleksandr Usyk – but some argue he never had to face the best of the best to get there, having only competed once in two of the five weight classes.

But what really creates a stronger legacy, being the dominant force in one division or journeying through weight categories?

The case for being dominant in one division

Campaigning almost solely in one division for your entire career and reigning as unified or undisputed champion not only solidifies you as one of the best boxers in the world, but as one of the best the division has ever seen.

It means you left no stone unturned and no contender unconquered – there can be no questions over your dominance in that division – beating the best there is to offer should be enough to confirm you as an all-time great.

The most poignant examples of this are Marvin Hagler and Gennady Golovkin, who both operated almost exclusively in the middleweight division.

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Hagler is widely considered one of the most destructive champions in any division in the history of boxing.

He reigned as the undisputed middleweight champion for seven years and successfully defended his title on 12 consecutive occasions, winning all but one of those defences by knockout.

That, on its own, is a Hall of Fame-worthy career, and his claim to being an all-time great is only bolstered when you look at who Hagler had to beat to remain champion.

He conquered the likes of Alan Minter, Vito Antuofermo, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns to stay on the throne during his period of domination.

Golovkin, in his prime, was one of the most feared boxers in the world and, between 2009 and 2017, knocked out every opponent he faced.

He reigned as the middleweight champion for almost a decade, beating the likes of Kell Brook, Daniel Jacobs and David Lemieux at a time when no one wanted to fight him.

Many hold Golovkin’s resume against him and say he could have had a better legacy if he had moved to super middleweight earlier. But beating the best fighters that were willing to step into the ring with him comfortably and remaining undefeated in his first 37 fights is a level of domination only seen in all-time greats.

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Gennady Golovkin is a two-time unified world middleweight champion (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

Drawbacks of dominating one division

As previously mentioned, and as was exemplified with Golovkin, even if you beat everyone there is to beat in your division, there will always be questions over whether or not the quality of the division at the time was good enough and if the fighter really challenged themselves enough by settling into one weight class.

If you have only proven yourself in one division, it becomes harder to argue for pound-for-pound greatness, as there may have been contenders or champions in another division that could have proven their dominance to be false.

Once the initial run of collecting belts against potentially unknown quantities is complete, there is no guarantee of quality opposition rising to challenge for the crown, which can damage a fighter's legacy through no fault of their own.

The case for being a multi-division champion

Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya and Terence Crawford all spring to mind when you mention not just the boxers to have conquered five or more weight divisions, but also some of the best boxers of all time.

The ability to seamlessly transition between divisions and adapt to new challenges, sizes and styles is a hallmark of a great fighter and, since the beginning of the four-belt era, has been what most fighters chase.

Pacquiao is perhaps the best example of this, winning world titles in eight different weight divisions from flyweight to super welterweight.

He took on the best names in almost all of those divisions, claiming wins over Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, and Ricky Hatton along the way.

Pacquiao ruled eight divisions and was forced to gain over 40lb during his career. To be able to gain that much weight while keeping the speed and fitness required to compete at world level is a testament to true greatness.

(GETTY IMAGES)

Drawbacks to being a multi-division champion

By never settling in one division, a fighter cannot claim to have dominated at any weight. In the four-belt era, it has become easier for subpar champions to emerge and for fighters to cherry-pick these titlists to achieve multi-division champion status without truly testing themselves.

Adrien Broner is a four-division world champion from super featherweight up to welterweight, but no one would argue he was better than Hagler or Golovkin.

His world title wins came against Vicente Rodriguez, Antonio DeMarco, Paulie Malignaggi and Khabib Allakhverdiev, who many would regard as no more than solid champions.

But when Broner came up against elite-level opposition like Marcos Maidana, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter and even Mikey Garcia, he fell short.

There is also the issue of, especially at the lower weight categories, the gap between them being so small that it doesn’t constitute a big enough challenge.

The weight difference between the flyweight limit of 112lb and the welterweight limit of 147lb, which Manny Pacquiao won world titles at, is only 35lb, but it constitutes eight weight classes.

This is almost the same as the difference between the super middleweight and cruiserweight, which is 32lb, but only constitutes three divisions.

Manny Pacquiao (right) punches Adrien Broner in their 2019 welterweight fight (Getty Images)

Which creates a stronger legacy?

Based on the arguments given, it is a close call, but history dictates that when a multi-division champion truly marches through the weights and beats the best fighters those divisions have to offer then there is a much stronger argument for that fighter being a true pound-for-pound great.

The likes of Mayweather and Pacquiao, who are widely considered two of, if not the best, fighters to ever walk the planet, both focused on being the best across more than one division.

This is not to say that one division champions who dominated for years can’t be considered some of the best of all time because that simply isn’t true – Golovkin, Hagler and the longest reigning super middleweight champion in history, Joe Calzaghe, would have something to say about that.

But in terms of legacy left behind, conquering not just one division but four or more divisions leaves no argument – as long as they really are facing the best fighters available.

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