By JAMES SLATER
May 26, 2023 Source: Boxing News 247
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
This great sport of ours, which we love so much, can and does continue to deliver. The massive fights, the matchups everyone wants to see, may take longer to roll around these days, and they may be less plentiful, but they still happen: the best Vs the best. Case in point, the it’s-official-at-last welterweight unification showdown between unbeaten 147 pound kings Terence Crawford (WBO ruler) and Errol Spence (the IBF/WBA/WBC boss).
The winner, if there is one (draw, anyone?) will become the first man in boxing history to hold all four major belts at the weight. Yes, sir, this one is big, as in huge. As in unmissable. It will be scorching hot in Las Vegas in July, the Crawford-Spence clash now set for The T-Mobile Arena, and the temperature of passionate fight fans will rise even more due to this fight. Oh, to be in Vegas that week! So, who wins? Crawford, who says “it’s time to reel in the big fish,” has no doubt he will get the victory. Spence, who said “this one is a throwback fight on paper, but it could be a one-sided ass whooping,” is equally convinced he will walk away with all the marbles. It is arguable that no welterweight title fight since the epic Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns battle of 1981 (also staged in Vegas) has been as big.
Gervonta Davis' coach says Haney should stay at 135 and fight Tank So, again – who wins? Talk about a tough fight to call, a best Vs the best call. Can YOU pick a winner? Crawford, aged 35 yet still in his prime due to a combination of having looked after himself extremely well, having lived the life, as they say, and from not having ever taken anything like serious punishment, is currently 39-0(30) and he, and we, have been waiting for that career-defining fight for some time.
Now it’s finally here. Spence, aged 33 and still in his prime, “The Truth,” having been in maybe one punishing war, this his fight with common opponent Shawn Porter, is currently 28-0(22) and though he has arguably passed sterner tests than has Crawford, at 147, anyway (Mikey Garcia, Danny Garcia, Yordenis Ugas), he too needs, and is getting, his career-defining fight. Both guys have been somewhat inactive as of late – Crawford last boxing in December, Spence last fighting in April of last year – and rust could, maybe, be a problem for one or even both guys on July 29. But these two superb fighters, true pros both, have each been saving it ALL up for this fight, for this mega-fight.
Eddie Hearn Defends Tough Matchmaking, Says His Fighters “Try To Be Great” In this one, both modern greats can be expected to let it ALL out. It could be a truly magnificent fight. It WILL be The fight of The Year. So, to ask a third time (!) – who wins? It’s tough to pick against Spence, yet it might be even tougher to pick against Crawford. But let’s wait until closer to fight night before we go making any predictions. Other than this one will be a special fight/night/week. It sure took its time, but the biggest non-heavyweight title fight that could be made in the sport has at last been made official.
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