Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.
In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.
We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”
Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.
In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature,we decided to focus on welterweight titleholder and pound-for-pounder Terence Crawford.
Crawford is without question the greatest fighter to ever come out of Nebraska, which isn’t saying much. The state isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of boxing.
That said, some good fighters have come from Nebraska. The best before Crawford might’ve been Ace Hudkins, a product of Lincoln who fought successfully from lightweight to light heavyweight from the early 1920s to early 1930s and ended up based in Los Angeles.
“The Nebraska Wildcat” twice fought the great Mickey Walker for the world middleweight title but came up short on the cards both times.
Could we link Hudkins to Crawford? We gave it a try. And we were successful even though Hudkins last fought in 1932, 88 years ago.
Check it out:
Ace Hudkins fought …
Mickey Walker, who fought …
Lou Brouillard, who fought …
Georgie Abrams, who fought …
Ray Robinson, who fought …
Joey Archer, who fought …
Emile Griffith, who fought …
Armando Muniz, who fought …
Carlos Palomino, who fought …
Wilfredo Rivera, who fought …
Shane Mosley, who fought …
Manny Pacquiao, who fought …
Jeff Horn, who fought …
Terence Crawford
Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!
Read more:
Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder
Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao
Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue
Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ
Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends
Degrees of Separation: Linking the Mayweathers
Degrees of Separation: Linking Manny Pacquiao to Pancho Villa
