It was billed as the fight of the century. This is the matchup that boxing fans around the world had been waiting for. Errol Spence, Jr. vs. Terrence “Bud” Crawford for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world.
Both fighters came into this matchup undefeated. Spence was 28-0, while Crawford was 39-0. Both fighters have pretty much run rough-shod through the division, beating every opponent put in front of them. It was only natural to finally have the best fight against the best.
They attempted to make this fight a year ago, but talks stalled, and each fighter moved on to different opponents to stay active. After both fighters successfully defended their titles, they came back to the table. This time, they made it happen.
With all the hype and anticipation, fight fans were expecting a classic battle that would go down in the annals of history. What we got was a masterclass in the sweet science, taught by none other than Professor Terrence “Bud” Crawford.
I would say that round 1 was even, but after that, it was total domination by Bud. It began with what could be considered a flash knockdown in round 2, and then the route was on. Crawford dominated each and every round!!!
In round 6, it was the beginning of the end with Bud delivering punishing blow, after punishing blow. He appeared to be toying with Spence. In round 7, he thoroughly dominated with 2 knockdowns, and continued to punish Spence all over the ring in round 8. In round 9, he finally put Spence out of his misery with a barrage of punches that he had no answer for, resulting in a TKO, and Bud being crowned the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
Going into this match, many viewed Spence as the bigger fighter that would dominate due to his size and punching power that he possessed in both hands. And after all, Spence has fought at welterweights since he was an amateur.
Bud was considered the smaller fighter having began his amateur career at lightweight, and then moving up to become the undisputed jr. welterweight champ. He has the ability to fight in both the orthodox and southpaw stances, showing off his versatility and the fact that he too possesses power in both hands.
Bud began this fight in the southpaw stance, and would never stray from it. It clearly caused Spence some problems. Even with Spence being a southpaw himself, he hasn’t fought against many in his career. This was a beautiful tactic by Crawford, and is more than likely one of the reasons for his dominating victory.
Crawford has been underestimated his entire career, and last night was no different. Even after racking up 10 straight knockouts, 7 in the welterweight division, he was still thought to be the smaller fighter, and that Spence would in essence bully him around the ring. Instead, it was the opposite. Crawford painted a masterpiece! He constantly beat Spence to the punch, and whenever Spence did something positive, it was effectively countered by Crawford.
Because of the resume of both fighters, this was one of the most dominating performances in the history of the sport. While there is an automatic rematch clause in the contract, I think it’s safe to say that Spence will definitely ask for the rematch. But will the outcome be any different? Based on what I saw last night, I think the result will be close to the same. But then again, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
