LAS VEGAS – Terence Crawford indicated before he fought Shawn Porter that beating Porter impressively could move him above Canelo Alvarez on pound-for-pound lists.

Becoming the first fighter to stop Porter in their WBO welterweight title fight definitely qualified as an impressive performance, yet Crawford still didn’t declare himself boxing’s best, pound-for-pound, in its aftermath. The three-division champion from Omaha, Nebraska, remained respectful of Alvarez’s position atop most credible lists and stated that it is up to fans and those that write and pontificate about boxing to make this determination.

“Canelo’s a great talent,” Crawford said during his post-fight press conference. “You gotta put him up there at the top. Like I said, you know, my performance [Saturday night] would determine whether you put me number one or number two. You know, and that’s not for me to decide. You know, it’s all opinionated. So, you know, y’all make y’all opinion, y’all assumptions, and y’all do what y’all do. Y’all vote on it, and y’all tell me who’s number and who’s number two.”

Wherever you rate Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs), he recorded the most noteworthy win of his 13-year professional career by dropping Porter twice and forcing his father/trainer, Kenny Porter, to wave a white towel to stop their scheduled 12-round bout at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena. Crawford’s detractors previously picked apart his resume within the welterweight division, which includes stoppages of three unbeaten opponents in Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez Jr. and Egidijus Kavaliauskas and technical-knockout victories over faded former champions Amir Khan and Kell Brook.

The 34-year-old Porter, however, is a two-time welterweight champion who had lost only competitive decisions to three opponents who were undefeated when they opposed Porter in 147-pound title fights – Kell Brook (majority), Keith Thurman (unanimous) and Errol Spence Jr. (split). Porter, who announced his retirement during their post-fight press conference, called Crawford the best fighter on a long list of current and former champions he has faced.

Crawford’s stoppage of Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) should at least enhance his standing among some pound-for-pound voters.

BoxingScene.com has Crawford ranked fourth on its list, below Alvarez, Naoya Inoue and Errol Spence Jr., respectively. The Ring magazine also has Crawford rated fourth, but behind the first-ranked Alvarez, second-ranked Oleksandr Usyk and the third-rated Inoue.

ESPN.com ranks Crawford second, beneath only Alvarez.

Alvarez (57-1-2, 39 KOs) has won world titles in four weight classes. The Mexican superstar has decisively defeated three unbeaten super middleweight champions since December 19 – Callum Smith (WBA, WBC), Billy Joe Saunders (WBO) and Caleb Plant (IBF) – to become boxing’s first fully unified 168-pound champion.

Ukraine’s Usyk upset Anthony Joshua on September 25 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London to take the IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles from England’s Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs). Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), a former undisputed cruiserweight champion, out-boxed Joshua to win a 12-round unanimous decision.

Japan’s Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs) possesses the IBF and WBA “super” bantamweight championships and has won world titles in three divisions. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, owns the IBF and WBC welterweight titles and has defeated former champions in Porter and Danny Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs) in his last two fights.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.