Terence Crawford admits he was even hungrier to win after hearing Jeff Horn's camp come up with "excuse after excuse" in the lead-up to their world title fight.
Crawford completely dominated Horn from the opening bell in Saturday's clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, eventually forcing a ninth-round stoppage to claim the WBO welterweight champion.
The 30-year-old now has titles in three weight divisions, having come up to the 66.68kg limit after unifying the four major light welterweight titles last year.
There was no love lost between the two fighters and their respective management ahead of the bout, with Horn's side complaining about numerous issues like the horse hair gloves Crawford wanted to use, to the state of the Top Rank gym provided to them, and even alleging there was foul play afoot at the weigh-in.
Trainers Glenn Rushton and Brian McIntyre also traded insults for weeks before fight night but a threatened violent confrontation never eventuated.
None of it bothered Crawford.
"I knew where their camp was coming from," he said.
"They were trying to get under my skin.
"I'm pretty sure they didn't believe nothing they were saying, they were just coming up with excuse after excuse.
"What him and his coaches and my coach had going on, it had nothing to do with me, I stayed focused."
Crawford's awe-inspiring performance will have only reaffirmed his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not the outright No.1.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum even compared him to 'Sugar' Ray Leonard in his prime.
"I feel like I'm getting better and better," Crawford said.
"I feel like I'm stronger, more energised. This is a great division for me.
"Coming into this fight I was a challenger and I didn't like that too much. I wanted the title again.
"Now that I've got that I can rest and assure you that I'll be back stronger and better next time."
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