Why did Ugas stand in front of Spence?

Yes it is. Spence dictates the terms of engagement.

 

It was an admirable strategy, in a way. If he had moved it would have just made him lose slower, maybe go the distance even.

Ugas is a big guy, has some years on him, he's not going to win a dance off with Spence. Keep in mind he just stood his ground against the legend Manny Pacquiao and won, he must have had confidence. He had to stand in and shoot his shot and he did and he had a fleeting moment of success with it but it wasn't nearly enough.

Spence does rely a little bit on his size advantage but Ugas is big too. Same with Porter and Brook. Crawford is not small but smaller, that will help Spence a lot.

I feel certain both fighters are mentally ready here. If there is any silver lining to how late this fight is happening, it's that.

Bud needs to stay orthodox, exactly like you said Spence will spend every second Bud is southpaw just shutting Bud's eyes with the jab (though this is so obvious I expect both sides have counters and counters to the counters planned for it).

The super fast straight rights to the body that deflated Porter is what he needs to do again to beat Spence.

Porter, for whatever reason, was not effective in putting damage on Bud (he won some rounds but he didn't drain Bud much). Spence will do more.

For me the fight comes down to whether Crawford can do his thing while taking sustained punishment from a bigger man. It's a physical question for me, not so much mental, and I don't believe anyone including Bud, Spence, either's trainer, or anyone else in the world really knows the answer.

 

He's constantly probing and controlling space with a jab and a looping left to the body which he is able to throw because he apparently has no fear of taking a punch (at his best he has his head in a spot that's difficult to hit with leverage but multiple times a fight he will just eat his opponent's best right hand, his chin hasn't let him down yet).

 

Sound technique and fundamentals, skills, physical strength, volume and ring generalship.

 

He is also defensively responsible.

 

Uses his jab well, constantly going to the body, good footwork, and a tight defense. This is why I think Spence is pretty underrated here. Everyone just writes him off against Crawford despite bud never having to deal with someone so well rounded

 

Great observations, especially the ones about Spence and Crawford. This is a fight I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Spence is a better boxer than most people give him credit for. I mean fundamental boxer with world class tools. He’s also the bigger man.

I still view it as a 50/50 fight. Crawford looked very good against Porter, better than I have seen anyone look against Porter in a long time. I didn’t think Spence looked nearly as good against Porter but both guys won (Crow and Spence) so that’s all that matters. Let’s see if the fight actually happens and see how they look side by side. At the moment I’m still picking Crawford but it’s not hard to make an argument for Spence. I’ll be happy if they do it soon, as discussed, while both guys are prime. It so up be a shame if two of the best fighters at 147 (and arguably PFP) never face each other.

 

Spence is really good at controlling distance. Ugas is an ok WW.

 

Ugas just didn't come to win and was paid off by PBC. Don't be naive guys. Ugas hurt Spence and did f all. That wasn't in the script