But Spence is promoted by Premier Boxing Champions while Crawford spent most of his career with Top Rank: rival promotional companies who rarely cross the street to do business with each other. A summit meeting between Spence and Crawford for all the welterweight marbles has been a no-brainer for years. It’s rare enough that two boxers at or near the top of the sport’s pound-for-pound list compete in the same weight class and rarer still that both are roughly the same age. And it might have never happened if the fighters themselves hadn’t taken matters into their own hands: It’s the best fight that boxing can deliver. He will also stake a credible claim, alongside Japanese terror Naoya Inoue, as the world’s best prizefighter regardless of weight: the so-called pound-for-pound No 1. That means the winner of tonight’s scheduled 12-round fight will become the first undisputed welterweight champion in boxing’s four-belt era, which dates back to 2004. By then Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) was already the IBF’s champion at 147lbs and has since added the WBC and WBA belts. Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) has campaigned in the same weight class as Spence since 2018, when he moved up to capture the WBO’s version of the welterweight title and rumblings of a fight began in earnest. We’re ringside at the T-Mobile Arena for a mouth-watering matchup of undefeated American stars more than five years in the making. Hello and welcome to Las Vegas for tonight’s long-awaited showdown between Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford. Last thing (probably): Should Crawford win tonight, he’ll become the first male fighter in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion in two different weight classes (at 140lbs and 147lbs). After winning the re-match he made one more defence before losing his title to the American Marlon Starling in 1989. Honeyghan, at the time Mike Tyson’s favourite fighter, made three successful defences before losing to the Mexican Jorge Vaca the following year. To go into a foreign country and win like that against a man like Curry was amazing.” He had no fear, no trepidation and I have never seen a boxer who was given no chance be so completely and absolutely dominant. Lloyd just went through the jabs and broke him up to the body. “Curry could punch with both hands and was a brilliant boxer but we reckoned he was open to left hooks to the body. His training and mental attitude were unbelievable. But I have never seen anybody so fixed in his belief that he would win as Lloyd. All the press were talking about how many rounds it would go before Curry knocked him out. Bobby Neill, who trained the Bermondsey fighter, remembers: “Nobody gave him a chance. The Ragamuffin Man’s seventh-round victory ranks second only to Randolph Turpin’s 1951 victory over Sugar Ray Robinson as the greatest upset in British boxing history as many classed Curry as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter. Remarkably, it’s been 37 years s since all of the recognized world titles were on the line in a welterweight title fight: when Lloyd Honeyghan stopped the aforementioned Curry at Caesars Atlantic City to capture the WBA, WBC and IBF titles in one of the great upsets in the annals of British boxing.Īs the Guardian’s John Rawling wrote about it: Keith Thurman (WBA) v Danny Garcia (WBC) in 2017 The other three:ĭonald Curry (WBA, IBF) v Milton McCrory (WBA) in 1985įelix Trinidad (IBF) v Oscar De La Hoya (WBC) in 1999 (Don’t ask.)Īdditionally, Spence-Crawford is only the fourth welterweight title unification fight between unbeaten champions. We’ve already mentioned how tonight’s feature attraction is the first undisputed welterweight championship fight in boxing’s four-belt era, which dates back to either 1988 or 2004, depending on who you ask. Some more historical bric-a-brac as we count down toward the main event. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. But he doesn’t hesitate for a moment when asked whether he plans to exercise his option for a replay. Spence has made no secret of his desire to leave 147lbs behind for good, opening up about his struggles to make the welterweight limit. The contract for tonight’s fight included a two-way rematch clause that can be triggered by the loser within 30 days, although the winner will get to decide whether the fight will take place at 147lbs or 154lbs. I wasn’t surprised by his speed or his accuracy. The Texan adds: “He was just throwing the hard jab. “He was just better tonight,” Spence says.
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