Name a higher calibre boxing match than Spence vs Crawford

Canelo GGG was arguably higher caliber. Some publications like ESPN had GGG P4P #1 before he fought Canelo. Ring had GGG #2 P4P and Canelo #7 P4P. ESPN has Bud #1 P4P but Ring has him #3. ESPN and Ring have Spence #4. So the combined P4P ranking is comparable but GGG was slightly higher P4P than Bud is now if we're going by the average Ring / ESPN P4P ranking. Canelo was lower P4P than Spence is now before he fought GGG but he ended up becoming P4P #1 and held it for many years. They weren't both undefeated but both GGG and Canelo were younger than Bud / Spence are now. GGG was 35 and 5 months. Bud is 35 and 10 months now. Canelo was 27 and 2 months. Spence is 33 and 5 months now.

So if we're going by age both GGG and Canelo were more prime when they first fought than Bud and Spence are now. GGG was slightly younger than Bud is now and Canelo was much younger than Spence is now. But it's interesting that you say both are in their prime, despite Bud being older now than GGG was and Spence being much older now than Canelo was. Many have said the opposite, that they don't consider either Spence or Bud in their prime anymore.

Another example that was arguably higher caliber was Kovalev Ward. Ring had Kovalev P4P #2 and Ward P4P #4 before they fought and both were undefeated. ESPN P4P had Kovlaev #3 and Ward #5 before they fought. Ward was up to #4 earlier in the year then was overtaken by Bud and dropped to #5 before he fought Kovalev.

 

agree

 

bigger money but not more skill.

 

The Fight of the Century, Ali-Frazier 1, meets all of your qualifications.

 

That remains to be seen. We know how highly contested both Canelo GGG 1 and Ward Kovalev 1 was. Both of those matches were highly skillful and delivered. Granted both were on HBO and this is on Showtime. Don't get me wrong, this could deliver, I want this to be a classic, but Canelo GGG 1 and Ward Kovalev 1 set a pretty high bar so it will take a lot for this to surpass it. On paper this has all the makings of a classic but styles make fights and we just don't know if this will deliver like those did.

 

canelo gg 1 was a sparring match that ggg had to carry canelo. canelo was gassed after 6 and ggg didnt throw 1 bodyshot all night. Let me guess, he didnt throw to the body cuz he was scared to get countered. neither of those fights are on the level of crawford spence. skill vs skill. you gotta go back to leonard hearns or duran leonard 1 to get this kinda skill

 

maybe whitaker vs chavez
people will say chavez wasnt prime but thats because he was fighting some real dudes thats style was a prob for him. meldrick taylor and whitaker were dudes with high level skill and god gifted attributes

 

Canelo GGG 1 was a war, and a highly skillful war at that. Compared to Canelo GGG 2 which was less skillful and more of a greuling slugfest. You calling 1 a sparring match is absurd though. If you wanna talk about skill, Canelo made GGG 1 skillful. Lets see if Bud gasses after 6 against Spence. Many say they expect him to gas and that Bud is dangerous early but could fade late. While Spence could take over late. Canelo gassed after 6 against GGG, he lowered his output in 7-9 but also loaded up with bombs in those rounds and rocked GGG. Lets see if Bud rocks Spence with those kind of bombs in 7-9. Lets see if Bud shows the kind of footwork, fluidity and master boxing Canelo showed against GGG the first time. Canelo came out like a bat outta hell in 10-12 to finish strong. Lets see if Bud is able to finish as strong as Canelo did against GGG in their first fight.

If you wanna talk about who is more skillful, Bud (against Spence) or Canelo (in GGG 1), lets see if Bud is able to stay on the ropes, and make Spence miss like Canelo did GGG, lets see if Bud is able to come out and outbox Spence early like Canelo did GGG. Lets see if Bud is able to use upper body movement to make Spence miss then counter. (I expect him to counter but as skillfully as Canelo did against GGG? I doubt it) I can't believe you would call that a sparring match. Now granted, there's a lot more animosity between Spence and Bud then there was between Canelo and GGG going into their 1st fight. So even if you think Bud and Spence are more skillful fighters than Canelo and GGG were 6 years ago, they may throw caution to the wind and it could turn into a less skillful fight than Canelo GGG 1 was. But we will find out soon enough!!

 

your right, canelo was so good ggg couldnt throw one body shot when canelo was laying on the ropes. LOLLLLLLLLLLLL Fight was about as much of a joke as hagler leonard. Have you ever seen crawford tired? You got it the opposite. crawford may go down a couple rounds but when he figures out your style he steps on the gas and its over. were gonna find out.

 

I agree with you. I was just telling my wife about this fight and how big it is in boxing history. I explained some of what you listed. I mentioned Pacquiao vs. Mayweather and GGG vs. Canelo, about the skills and records of Spence and Crawford, first time in welterweight history,... It should be a barn burner tomorrow! May the best man win.

 

It really is tough. Like Mike Tyson said you really hafta go back a long way.

 

It's a great fight, but someone'd have to be pretty unhinged to argue that in a world where Usyk and Inoue exist.

One down side is Spence hasn't fought in 15 months. That's a long period of inactivity, then throw in the car crash... I really hope this lives up to the billing.

Looking forward to it.