When you list out Lewis' best wins like that it actually for the most part looks atrocious based on when he fought those guys
Not fighting Spence wouldn’t damage the legacy he’s built thus far. It would just keep it where it is/it won’t be nearly as great.
I think that's fair, but it's also fair to say that Spence deserves the bigger share of the blame for this fight not taking place. He's been the one with the choices, the promoter support, the audience that allowed him to make stupid fights instead of the one the boxing world was crying out for. He's made a fortune, but he promised so much more when he was making his way up. They both take a rep hit for this long , dull circus, Crawford suffers more on the resume calculation, but on the 'other side of the street' Spence gets to carry a massive question mark on the ducking issue.
100% correct. Spence started the negotiations with Crawford wanting 75 to 80 % of the purse. That's not being remotely serious with a guy with Bud's credentials.
The WBO was founded in 1988. Lennox Lewis never held all four belts. Ever. Lennox competition wasn't exactly stellar either. Tommy Morrison at the end of his career, who had been beaten by Bentt. Željko Mavrović? Lol. Barely getting by Mercer in a fight some people still believe he lost. Holyfield was over a decade removed from when he first won his championship and he retired and then unretired due to medical issues and going to war with Bowe. Ruddock had three losses and been through two wars with Tyson that sent him to the hospital multiple times. Don't get me wrong as I am a big fan of Lennox Lewis. His skillset, the way he learned under Steward as well as learning from his losses was amazing. I'm simply showing that anyone can cut down most fighters resumes, it's not difficult. Crawford was the third man in history to do it and one of only eight to ever accomplish it. Hopkins: Middleweight. 2004 Taylor: Middleweight. 2005 Crawford: Junior Welterweight: 2017 Usyk: Crusierweight: 2018 Josh Taylor: Junior Welterweight 2021 Canelo: Super Middleweight 2021 Charlo: Junior Middleweight 2022 Haney: Lightweight 2022 Crawfords legacy is secured on that alone and he stands in pretty amazing company. Anyone on this forum can play word jujitsu and make anyone else's resume look weak. How many threads have you seen trashing someone's resume by people who have never even laced them up? Canelos run at super middle gets grief, but the fact is he did it and no one else has at super middle. That by definition is legacy, to have done something no one else had done before, being the first. I believe Crawford is wasting his skillset and talent chasing ten million dollar fights against guys who do not add to his legacy. That being said, every single man has the right to set the price he is willing to accept to step into the ring and potentially be injured, permanently, for life. Aidos Yerbossynuly. Coma. 2022 Arest Saakyan. Coma. Dead Patrick Day. Coma. Dead It would take me all day to list every name so how about just these ones: https://www.casino.org/blog/10-fighters-who-died-in-the-ring/
The only thing nonsensical is you ignoring the fact Hoylfield was a champion, Ruddock was ranked, Tua and Mercer were ranked, etc and were all big names in the division. Lewis sought them out and challenged them knowing people would ask him about the big names he missed. YOU are shifting goal post and literally denying historical facts. Talk about projection. Ruddock wasn't in the hospital and injured before he fought Lewis, he recovered from that. Simply going to the hospital doesn't automatically mean someone is washed up. Tua and Morrison were in their freaking 20's with little mileage yes they were in their prime lmao. What prime ranked popular fighters has Crawford beaten at 147...? Trick question. You keep talking about ancient history at 140. The thread is about what Crawford is doing at 147 (nothing). He has a HUGE name available with 3 of the belts and he doesn't seem interested in pursuing that fight like his legacy will be fine in 20 years.
It makes a resume look "atrocious" fighting 20 year old champions/ranked contenders? You have to pull teeth to get guys to do that nowadays. Some people are impossible to please.
It would damage his 147 legacy. He'll be the Riddick Bowe of welterweight if he doesn't fight Spence. Have you seen the memes? People are going for the jugular. https://i.imgur.com/SuqGcNO.jpeg
I'm seriously trying to figure out what bad choices Spence has been making? What fights has he not made happen? You do realize Spence was Brooks mandatory and was demanding a fight literally years before Brooks dumbass fought Golovkin? Spence chased after Thurman for years and got ignored. He eventually did fight and beat the breaks off Brook. He beat Porter who was a champion coming off his best win. He fought Ugas, a champion who was coming off his best win. He survived a car crash and fought Garcia, a ranked fighter, with no tune ups. He retired Lamont Peterson. He was the only one to KO Bundu, a man Thurman couldn't KO. He humiliated Mikey Garcia who was on the p4p list outboxing him with a jab when he was accused of being a limited slugger. He's gone out of his way to fight the best and won with big exclamation points. What more do people want? What exactly did Spence do wrong? What fights did he miss out on? I'm confused.
