Putting Crawford's Domination & Stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. Into Its Proper Perspective.

Crawdad beat a bigger, younger, top five (on many lists) PFP champion, and he did it in dominant fashion. Maybe the people who put together PFP rankings were unaware Spence was in a car accident and was less active in recent years? On many PFP lists, these two were very closely ranked and Spence was usually in the top five. Many top pros picked Spence to win and the betting line was pretty close.

It’s easy to make predictions after the fact (Yogi Berra?) and revisionist history is a lot of fun. Bottom line is this was a close fight on paper. Crawford stepped up and put all doubt to rest regarding who was the better fighter, at least on that night. Spence is a major scalp on Crawford’s resume and Earl will have a shot at appearing on that resume in two weight classes.

The beating Crawford put on Spence was historic. It wasn’t an Andy Ruiz one punch stunner, he dismantled the younger bigger man and dominated until the ref called it quits. Many people wanted to see it ended sooner because Spence was taking major punishment. I’m glad Crawford took the decision out of the hands of crooked boxing judges and suspect he will do the same at 154 or at least try to do so.

Bud closed the show like a the PFP king he is against his toughest opponent. He eliminated all doubt and earned the top spot.

 

Most of those lists were comprised by casuals who couldn't tell you who Kenshiro Teraji is and/or people who had a vested interest in bigging up Spence to help sell the fight. Spence was never one of the ten best fighters regardless of weight, regardless of what ex-fighters say who have their own agendas (Porter). He is/was a very good welterweight with obvious flaws that Crawford's skillset were going to easily exploit.

What revisionist history? The OP has been saying Bud smokes Spence for years. So has Serge. I can point you to multiple boxing YouTube channels that maintained Spence getting brutally stopped was a matter of time. Hell, I recently bumped a year-old thread to take a victory lap (a very mature and dignified one I assure you) where I said Crawford stops Spence in 10 or less, and I'm no deep dive analyst like others. Spence is a very good, possibly great fighter at ONE weight-class that wasn't exactly fielding a who's-who of future Hall of Famers or pound-for-pound fighters. He was always going to get the **** kicked out of him, did get the **** kicked out of him, and Bud deserves flowers for showing the gulf between him and other welterweights, but that's all he did.

Nothing about this is incorrect or wrong. It also doesn't exactly help your case of Spence being a real pound for pound fighter and not an artificial one.

Your toughest opponent is determined by how much trouble they give you in the fight, not prematch narratives and commercials. People claimed Fulton would be Inoue's toughest fight, but he wasn't even as tough as his fourth fight ever against Taiguchi (less than a year in Inoue's career) let alone the first Donaire fight (which was not nearly as close as some people like to claim, if we want to discuss revisionist history). Gamboa was a tougher fight for Crawford than Spence, and that's just a simple fact.

 

PFP lists are made by casuals? Most PFP lists are made by boxing correspondents who cover the sport. I disagree with many but they are far from casuals. Spence was considered by many experts a PFP fighter. Guys on boxing sites have crazy opinions on most fighters. Some thought Canelo could beat a legit cruiser, some argue in favor of notably bad decisions, etc. It doesn’t change reality. This was arguably the biggest matchup between two top fighters and one dominated the other.

Spence was an easy fight because Crawford made it look easy. Are you guys taking points away from him for being so dominant? That’s what PFP fighters are supposed to do.

Diminishing Crawford’s achievement by downplaying his opponent is too common around here and on boxing sites. The OP was not a Spence fan and that’s cool. I was just saying Spence was a legit top fighter and this historic victory should be regarded as such. You can disagree and find other people on Internet forums who disagree. I can show you people on forums who are certain the world is flat and that space aliens walk among us. It doesn’t mean they are right.

 

"Casuals or people with a vested interest." Many of those correspondents have their own reason for overrating Spence. Some because they themselves didn't think much of Crawford. Some because they want access with interviews and press passes that come with being a good little hype man. And some may have just genuinely overrated Spence and just got a little too excited for the prospect of having a fight of the magnitude of Mayweather/Pacquiao, or at least the closest thing they could get to it. 'Boxing Correspondents' is a meaningless title when Mike Coppinger is paid to talk boxing, and Fight Hype's Sean Zittel openly speculated without a shred of evidence that Inoue was an arrogant drug cheat, Spare me having to take the likes of them seriously.

Except when the opinion is proven correct, you don't get to call it crazy. And many of those same 'experts' were very much talking about Canelo going up to cruiserweight and winning, while it was the people on boxing forums who were rolling their eyes at the whole endeavor.

Boxing correspondents often sing the praises of terrible scorecards as much as fans do (this past weekend Isaac Cruz was being sucked off by the announce team in a fight he arguably lost and were shocked at the split-decision) so I'm not exactly sure what your point is. That the people paid to talk boxing are just as bad/fickle at it as the people who do it for free? Because if so no argument.

This was a big fight between the two best welterweights in the world, one who was rightfully considered pound-for-pound great, the other had built enough cache with a wider fanbase through great managing that people artificially inflated his skillset to pound-for-pound. It's not the first or last time it will happen.

I called Crawford one of the two best fighters in the world after that and anyone who ranked him #1 ahead of Inoue would get no argument from me. It's his third weight class where he became undisputed for a second time when the powers that be actively TRIED TO KEEP HIM FROM DOING IT. That alone means he gets all the credit. But that doesn't mean I have to ignore what my eyes told me for years about Spence's flaws that played right into Bud's hands, along with Spence abusing his own body for years with his party-hard lifestyle and multiple car wrecks (some of which weren't his fault in the slightest, but the fact that it is MULTIPLE...). This win didn't make Crawford an all-timer, it's just the sweet icing on top of a body of work that already did that.

No one diminished his achievement, so your whole point about "earth is flat" comparisons falls...well flat. He beat a very good welterweight that established himself from the pack. However, it wasn't a very good pack to begin with and he had obvious flaws in his game. They all shamelessly ran from Crawford, and one by one he demonstrated exactly why they all pissed their pants in fear. A much more balanced take than Spence hearing every day from both pundits and peers about how he "HITS LIKE A HEAVYWEIGHT!" despite not once hurting Mikey Garcia.

 

Crawford is a special talent and will rightly go down as one of this eras best but let's keep it in perspective.. Spence is a little bit slow in the head & a weight grifter who has been hugely overhyped.... he's fought once since Danny Garcia in 2020.. let that sink in for a moment.. against Ugas (who's currently 37 btw..) & who nobody gave a s*** about until he beat an ancient Pacquiao.. I mean come on.. this is what he's done in nearly 3 years.. the guy should be nowhere near a pound for pound list or ranked as one of the world's best.. fkin Postol did better than Spence LOL.. Spence has never challenged himself at any other division and has barely risked anything in his career until he stepped up against Crawford and got embarrassed.. I congratulate Crawford on a brilliant performance and yes he's a pound for pound fighter undoubtedly but I can't stand the hyping of Spence, hes done fk all.. Porter almost had him ffs! Not being funny but what you had here is two small Americans knocking the f*** out of each other and somehow convincing a part of boxing's fan base that they are now the best in the world for doing so .. Bivol, Usyk, Inoue, Canelo.. have ppl forgot about what they've done? & even Lomachenko should be head & shoulders above Crawford & Spence if boxing had any integrity... the guy is a dwarf whooping on WWs & getting shafted by a corrupt US boxing Cartel .. but because the sports psyche is still so US centralised matchups like this are hugely overplayed & the participants are given way to much credence.. in reality this fight was a good three years too late & was easy to call. This was never this generation's Mayweather Pac.. these guys won't get close to achieving what those two Fighters did.

 

I pay less attention to what media says and more to the gambling line. If Spence was such a blown up hypejob, the bookies were not informed because the odds were pretty close. Spence was not a big underdog as he should have been for such a weak opponent.

We can have different opinions and all of us are proven right or wrong over time. Just saying, Spence was a great victory for Crawford. Better than anyone Inoue has on his resume to date. People are already calling for Crawford to call out Canelo or other much bigger guys. This nonsense is what people do. Like calling Spence a B class fighter. Maybe he is now but before the Crawford fight, he was THE top opponent at 144.

 

Odds are informed by the public whose opinions are often shaped by media one way or another. And you're right, Spence was nowhere near as big an underdog as he should have been, but I hardly blame a public who are constantly told by 'those in the know' that Spence has power that has dropped heavyweights before, even though their eyes showed them a fight where little Mikey Garcia was able to go the distance with the mighty Errol Spence. Thankfully there were enough people who went to their Wiki pages and were probably shocked to learn that the better boxer with the better jab also had a longer reach.

Donaire was a better win than anything on Bud's resume; an actual HOF and legit pound-for-pound great in the midst of a career resurgence that sadly ended this weekend (I need the magic Filipino water that prevents aging) so miss me with the nonsense of how good a win Spence was right there. Spence IS and WAS a B+ fighter, which isn't bad - most good fighters are! - but we overhyped it because he was in a C+ division. Crawford was the only A(++), which is why he was slapping everybody around and making it look easy. Crawford was the top opponent at 147, and even something as faulty as the eye test told you so. Spence was just the best of the rest...and even that only barely given his close shaves against Porter and being stunned against the great punching machine known as Yordenis Ugas ( )

 

Donaire was well past his sell by date and he gave Inoue more problems than anyone has given Bud. Didn’t he break his jaw? Wasn’t Donaire a relatively bit underdog in that fight (I need to check but am at work). Side note, I hope Inoue can somehow get to 130 before Loma loses all his skills. That would be a great technical fight if Loma can make 130. The size difference will be less than the Haney-Loma size difference.

Not that Inoue needs to fight a bigger guy to be considered legit ATG. He’s doing a great job on his own and I hope it continues.

Crawford probably has a year or two at this level and he’s going to be fighting bigger guys very soon so it will be interesting to see what happens. If he continues knocking guys out at the higher weight and unifies the belts, his place in history is cemented. Spence is a better win than Donaire.

 

Donaire, who has always been a monstrous puncher even as high as featherweight, broke his orbital bone, yes. But he gave Inoue far fewer problems than people romanticize; despite seeing double, Inoue boxed beautifully on the back foot, took the fight back, dropped Donaire and if not for an incompetent official would have gotten a stoppage win. Even two of the three scorecards reflected this (117-109, 116-111). Donaire then stopped his next two opponents in 4 rounds apiece to reclaim a version of the bantamweight title, including standout amateur and great boxer Nordine Oubaali, who would have been a favorite in the bantamweight tournament had an injury not prevented him from competing. Was he who he once was? No, but like Manny Pacquaio before him he found another gear that, when used with veteran craft, was able to make-up the difference, especially when returning to a lower weight class where he did his best work.

And if we're going to use Donaire past his sell date excuse (and ignore the resurgence he had) then holy **** by the same logic the Spence win looks outright abusive in comparison - car wreck after car wreck after car wreck, detached retina, slurring speech...

I agree Inoue/Loma would be a good fight, but I would have Inoue if it did happen. Loma's style is for a younger man, and he's not getting younger.

Agreed. I've said it plenty, but he and Crawford are the two best in the world. Rank them 1 and 2 as you will. For all other opinions, argue with your mother.

Again, Spence is in no way, shape, or form a better win than Donaire, whether it was how he matched up vs his opponent, his physical state of health, his overall skill, or his place in boxing history. It just isn't so. Though if Crawford fights 154-pound guys and dominates he may actually get some legitimate separation between himself and Inoue. I don't rate the 154-pound crop that high to be honest, but the size alone presents Bud with interesting challenges. It will be the first weight class he's' come into where him having the shorter reach will be the norm rather than the exception I believe.[/quote]

 

And dry as an onion waiting in the ring for Bud
Told the crew, he way too dry he best run in place or something

 

What's so GREAT about Spence? I'm still waiting for an answer to this one from anyone... 1 fight in 3 nearly years. A career ending car accident. Almost turned over by B level Ugas. What's so great about him? Barely beat a faded Porter too.. what has he done? He's hardly Canelo or Pac is he.. if he had the balls Donaire or Inoue has hed be challenging himself at higher weights more closer to his natural size instead of grifting the WW division too... just because he lingered around the powder puff for pound list for years without actually doing much doesn't mean people can't see through that and dissect his standing themselves.. you can't be that inactive & expect to keep your form, his performances have shown it too.. he isn't on form. He was held up so highly by a US centric fanbase & media for the money he & others bring in from their particular demographic.. they get sold the p4p BS & dazzled by the accumulation of trinket belts & take it as verbatim without acknowledging the real substance of a particular win or career. Spence has had a mediocre career. Hype it all they want, he isn't anything special. Never will be. Saying all that though it's pointless trading wins and arguing about pound 4 pound because it's a failed concept based on a fallacy. It's ultimately meaningless and can't be proven one way or the other. Beating Spence doesn't make Crawford the best fighter in the world , there is only one way to prove that and that is actually to fight all the best Fighters... he may be the best at WW yes but that's all we do actually know. Also don't forget this guy walks around as a borderline fkin CW... yet hes fighting at welterweight , that's hardly f****** pound for pound stuff for me... sorry..

 

I’m still tripping over Spence telling Bud he was going to “Put him in the dirt “.

Bud didn’t just turn it around he systematically broke Spence down and buried him under the dirt

Flawless execution from Crawford