News
Crawford Beats Spence Jr. With Pound For Pound Performance
Whether you were Team Crawford or Team Spence, boxing experts predicted a close, competitive, thrilling fight between the two top talents for the unified, undisputed world welterweight championship Saturday in Las Vegas.
Terence Crawford used speed and ring intelligence to take away Errol Spence Jr.’s best tools. Photo: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions
The only part everyone got right was that it was thrilling. But it was far from close or competitive.
Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska (40-0, 31 KOs) handed Spence Jr. of Dallas (28-1, 22 KOs) his first knockdown, and then his second, third, and fourth, leading to Spence’s first loss by ninth-round TKO. Referee Harvey Dock stopped the long anticipated title fight at 2:32 of the ninth round.
Crawford’s victory over Spence sent an electric shock through boxing including the 19,990 fans present at the T-Mobile Arena. It was less about the victory, all about the margin and the method. Crawford was the stronger, smarter, and faster fighter. Speed combined with ring intelligence drove a powerhouse performance by the 36-year-old champion.
Referee Harvey Dock stepped in to stop the fight at 2:32 of the ninth round. Photo: Esther LIn, Showtime Boxing
Upon winning the fight, Crawford seemed nearly as shocked as the fans, although not surprised. “I am so mixed with so many emotions, I can cry right now,” said Crawford.
“Nobody believed in me when I was coming up. It means everything because of who I took the belts from,” said Crawford. “They talked bad about me. They said I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t beat these welterweights. I just kept my head to the sky and kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is. Tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.”
Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. exchange words after their fight in the ring. Photo: Esther Lin, Showtime Boxing
Spence Jr., age 33, was gracious in defeat and made no excuses. “He was just better tonight. He was using the jab. My timing was a little bit off. He was just the better man tonight.”
Crawford is now the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF champion. Crawford is the first male fighter to become an undisputed champion in two weight divisions. He now can lay claim to being the world’s top pound-for-pound boxer, challenged only by the performance earlier in the week by unified bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue of Japan.
Crawford Took Command, Never Let Go
Terence Crawford scored the first knockdown of Errol Spence Jr.’s career in round two. Photo: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions
From the moment Crawford entered the T-Mobile Arena, accompanied by a live performance by rapper Eminem (AKA Marshall Mathers), he was in control. A notoriously slow starter, Crawford lost a close first round to Spence Jr. It was the only round of the fight Spence Jr. won on the scorecards. From the second round on, it was all Bud Crawford’s show.
In the second round, Crawford scored his first knockdown of Spence Jr. It was a flash knockdown, catching Spence Jr. completely by surprise. He could not hide his shock hitting the canvas for the first time. He popped up, seemingly unhurt. But his mindset was rattled, and he never got his head together. Later, Crawford said he knew when it happened, he would win the fight.
Terence Crawford’s hand speed was far superior to Errol Spence Jr’s. Photo: Ryan Hafey, Premier Boxing Champions
Crawford used his superior hand speed to catch anything Spence Jr. threw his way, leading with a strong jab and exceptional movement and feints to create openings for powerful straight rights, and hooks from both sides, peppered by withering body shots.
Although Spence Jr. is the naturally bigger man, it seemed the opposite. Crawford used his physical strength gained through wrestling as a teen to bully Spence Jr. and catch anything coming his way.
By the end of the third round, with Crawford coming on strong, Spence Jr. and trainer Derrick James grew visibly concerned. Crawford’s speed negated any offensive effort by Spence Jr., and he was fast running out of ideas. Spence Jr. did his best to fight back. He tried to smother Crawford’s offense. But he couldn’t do it.
Errol Spence Jr. was knocked down twice in round seven. Photo: Esther Lin, Showtime Boxing
Crawford managed to buckle Spence Jr.’s knees again in the sixth round, followed by a pair of knockdowns in the seventh round. Spence Jr. got up on wobbly legs with a rueful look on his face. With referee Dock circling, Crawford tried to end things there; Spence Jr. survived to the bell. The eighth round passed as a breather for both fighters and the fans.
In the ninth round, Crawford stalked Spence Jr., looking for his opportunity. It came with a swift three-punch combination: straight right, another right hook, and a right uppercut to the body. Spence Jr. had nothing left. With another trio of right hook, left hook, and straight right, Harvey Dock had seen enough. The fight the world had anticipated for so long was over.
At the time of the stoppage, Crawford was ahead 79 – 70 on all judges’ scorecards and also on the NYFights.com unofficial scorecard.
Crawford landed 185 punches against just 96 for Spence Jr. He landed 50% of his total punches thrown, and 60% of his power punches, a nearly unreal statistic.
Rematch? Stay Tuned
It’s hard to imagine the outcome of a rematch being different, even in another weight division. Photo: Esther Lin, Showtime Boxing
After the fight and later during a post-fight news conference, Crawford said the main focus in training was to take away Spence Jr.’s best weapon, his jab. “You take away his best attribute, and the rest is history. We practiced that.
“You all said I was too small. I was too strong,” said Crawford. Asked if he considers himself the top pound-for-pound fighter, Crawford replied, “Without a doubt.”
Spence Jr. spoke after the fight about a rematch. He confirmed he wants it to take place at the super welterweight limit of 154 pounds.
“We gotta do it again,” said Spence Jr. “I’m going to be a lot better. It’ll be a lot closer. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. I say we gotta do it again.” Trainer Derrick James said it would take time for them both to get over the loss.
Team Crawford poses with the RING Magazine belt after the fight. Photo: Gayle Falkenthal, NYFights.com
Crawford thanked his team and Spence Jr.’s team as well, stating that his accomplishment on Saturday wouldn’t have been possible without the Texan as the opponent. Crawford said if a rematch takes place, no matter the weight division, he expects the same outcome.
He will still be stronger and faster than Spence Jr., but Crawford said he believes the public will have interest, “and they’ll come out for both of us.”
There aren’t too many other options for Crawford, but he could consider taking on one of the hottest stars in boxing, Australian Tim Tszyu. The biggest money would be in Australia. Crawford also hinted he may see the end of his career, noting he’s 36 years old and had little left to prove.
Witnessing Greatness
Boxing journalists, commentators, fighters, and fight fans will discuss Spence vs. Crawford for years to come. Photo: Showtime Boxing
Hours after the fight, the boxing community was still trying to process what they’d seen. We spoke later with Showtime Sports Spanish-language commentator Raul Marquez, not often at a loss for words. He struggled to describe his thoughts. Former ESPN reporter and Big Fight Weekend writer Dan Rafael tried to come up with another title fight in which the outcome was so one-sided.
Perhaps Manny Pacquiao’s defeat of Oscar De La Hoya? Or Winky Wright’s dominating unanimous decision over Felix Trinidad in 2005?
Perhaps Crawford’s fight will simply stand on its own as a seminal moment in boxing history, one fans never imagined they’d be lucky enough to witness in 2023.
While Errol Spence Jr. may not have performed at his peak, he made no excuses for his defeat by Terence Crawford. Photo: Esther Lin, Showtime Boxing
Observers will discuss whether Spence Jr.’s 15 months of inactivity out of the ring, his weight drain to make the 147-pound limits, or the damage done to his face from a near-fatal car accident had any effect on the outcome of Saturday’s fight.
It’s possible, but even without these factors in play, it’s hard to see the eventual outcome being any different. Crawford’s performance wouldn’t have changed at all.
Showtime Boxing announced it will air the Spence vs. Crawford fight on its regular subscription channel on Saturday, August 5, at 9 p.m., followed by the final episode of “All Access: Spence vs Crawford Epilogue.”
