Normally, when Terence Crawford decides to infiltrate a weight class, the first thing he looks to do is become the division’s champion. Not just a belt holder but the champion.

There’s a difference between the two. Nowadays, there’s a proliferation of titles in every division. Regular belts, interim tags, silver belts, the holder of those titles can legitimately call themselves a champion. But, to be viewed as the division’s champion, you effectively become the man who beat the man.

At 135 pounds, Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) snagged a world title but didn’t stick around long enough to become a unified champion. In his two subsequent appearances at 140 and 147 pounds, however, Crawford went on to become an undisputed champion. So, with the 36-year-old recently making the move to the junior middleweight division, many assumed that his number one goal would be to do it again.

Yet, after years of being chastised for who he’s fought, Crawford recently revealed that he’s tired of having his name dragged through the mud.

“Not at all,” admitted Crawford to Cigar Talk during a recent sit-down interview when asked if becoming undisputed at 154 pounds was ever on the table. “Because I’m looking at the landscape of the 154-pound division. There’s a lot of great fighters but there’s not a lot of legacy fights at 154. If I beat Bakhram, they're gonna say who is Bakhram? Fundora already been knocked out.”

Lifting the WBA strap off Israil Madrimov was enough for Crawford to become a four-division champion but as he alludes to, there isn’t enough meat on the junior middleweight bone to make him want to stick around. Although rumors were circulating that he would look to unify the division, he’s officially truncating his time there and moving on.

As first reported by The Ring, Crawford is set to move up to 168 pounds to take on Canelo Alvarez in September. It’s a risk...a gigantic one but one that will flood his bank account with mind-boggling money. It’ll also cement his legacy. If the naysayers were a bit more kind to him, maybe Crawford would have a different mindset but since their harsh words have been unrelenting, he’s tired of placating them.

“Along my career, I been criticized and people have taken credit away from me just to try to diminish my accomplishments.”