“BUD” CRAWFORD DOMINATES SPENCE JR, TAKES HOME ALL THE BELTS

Terrence “Bud” Crawford shined brightly in front of the entire boxing world over the weekend with a dominant victory over Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. Crawford left no room for imagination on who is the top welterweight in the world after dismantling Spence with ease. Crawford dominated from the opening bell, using his jab and counterpunching to perfection. He scored three knockdowns on his way to a 9th-round TKO win to become the first undisputed welterweight champion of the four-belt era. A fight that fans have been begging for over the last five years left a lot to be desired, unless you’re apart of “Team Crawford.”

With all the welterweight belts on the line, the anticipation and buildup for the fight was electric. Even though the matchup between the top two 147’s was advertised as the “Fight of the Century,” it may have not even been the fight of the night. Not to take anything away from Crawford, he performed at the highest level and barely even broke a sweat. He showed off his strong combination of speed, power, and defensive prowess from the get-go. Bud typically likes to switch from southpaw to orthodox to gain the advantage over his opponents, but that was simply not needed on this night.

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Earlier in the week “The Monster” Inoue put on a clinic against Stephen Fulton with an 8th round TKO victory. That dominant win created buzz about Inoue becoming the #1 P4P in the World. The media and fans then argued that the winner of Crawford vs Spence would have to put on a flawless and emphatic win to overtake Inoue at the number one spot. Sure enough, Bud Crawford did exactly that on Saturday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The most impressive part about Crawford’s domination was the quality of competition he faced off against. Errol Spence Jr. came into the fight toting a 28-0 record with 22 coming by the way of knockout. His resume speaks for itself with wins against Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, Lamont Peterson, Mikey Garcia, and most recently Yordenis Ugas to claim the IBF, WBA, and WBC world titles.

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“The Truth” looked off from the beginning, his lack of head movement and non-existent power behind the jab was apparent. One could argue that round 1 was his best round, and even that was still 50/50. Throughout fight week, Spence seemed drained from the weight cut. His eyes were glassy, and his speech was occasionally mumbled. During the weigh-in Spence even leaned over to Crawford and whispered, “thank you for taking this fight.” Something was off, and whatever it was definitely affected him inside the ring.

After the terrifying Ferrari accident in 2019 and the retinal detachment/break in his left eye during sparring weeks before his scheduled fight with Manny Pacquiao, Spence Jr. has been living on the edge. He has shown great resilience and has since then scored wins against Garcia and Ugas, but at what cost? Errol, his team, and especially his family need to take a closer look at his future as a boxer.

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With the obvious effects of the weight drain, it’s inevitable that Spence will move up to 154. He gets a fresh start in a new division closer to his natural weight. Crawford on the other hand has all of the welterweight titles and should defend them at least once or twice to really cement his name in boxing history. Jarron Ennis, Keith Thurman, Alexis Rocha and Vergil Ortiz Jr. (if he can stay healthy) are all options for Bud at the top of the division. Spence has initiated the rematch clause, but most boxing fans would agree that a rematch in unnecessary.

Could we see Crawford and Spence face off at 154 in the future? Fans across the world would still tune in, but at this point the matchup has lost all of its luster.

The new #1 P4P champ out of Ohmaha, Nebraska, should be considered the face of boxing. At the age of 35, it’s unknown how much longer we get to see this historical talent, do yourself a favor and make sure to tune into his next fight. You won’t be disappointed. Please help Boxing Guru congratulate the undefeated three-division champion Terence “Bud” Crawford as he has emphatically stamped his place in the history books.

Photo Credit: Esther Lin/ Showtime — Ryan Hafey/ Premier Boxing Champions