By Ian S Palmer
There’s a huge welterweight title unification bout at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, July 29th as unbeaten southpaw Errol Spence Jr. of Long Island, New York will be putting his WBC, WBA and IBF belts on the line against unbeaten WBO Champion Terence Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska. Spence last fought in April, 2022 when he defended his title for the sixth time by stopping Yordenis Ugas in the 10th round to take his WBA ‘Super’ Title. Crawford last boxed in December when he stopped David Avenesyan in the sixth round to successfully defend his belt for the sixth time. The fight can be seen live on Showtime PPV in America as well as on the FITE Network while fans in the UK can catch it on TNT Box Office and those in Australia can see it on Main Event.
Spence vs Crawford Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Errol Spence Jr +150
- Terence Crawford -170
My Pick
Spence won the IBF title in May, 2017 when he stopped former champion Kell Brook in England in the 11th round. He defended it by halting Lamont Peterson after seven rounds in January, 2018 and then stopped Carlos Ocampo in the first round before beating Mikey Garcia by unanimous decision. He then edged Shawn Porter and Danny Garcia by split and unanimous decisions before stopping Ugas in his last outing and picked up the WBC Belt in the win over Porter. The 33-year-old year-old champ will enter the ring with a perfect record of 28-0 with 22 Kos and has gone the distance in his last three of his past four fights.
Spence stepped up in class for the first time as a pro when meeting Chris Algieri in April, 2017 after previously beating opponents such as Phil Lo Greco, Chris van Heerden, Samuel Vargas and Alejandro Barrera. He’s boxed 142 rounds since turning pro in 2012 and has a wealth of amateur experience as he competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and won the 2009, 2010 and 2011 USA National Championships and was successful in several other major amateur events.
At just over 5-feet-9-inches tall, Spence isn’t that big for a welterweight but he does have a 72-inch reach. He possesses very good speed and power and enters the fight with an impressive knockout ratio of 78.6 per cent despite not being regarded as a one-punch knockout artist. He had won 11 straight fights by way of stoppage until Mikey Garcia took him the distance in March, 2019. Spence has a fine jab and will be trying to establish it before unleashing his power shots against Crawford.
The 35-year-old Crawford enters the fight as a three-division world champ with a perfect record of 39-0 with 30 Ko’s. The former lightweight and super lightweight champion also possesses excellent foot and hand speed and better-than-average power with a current knockout ratio of 76.9 per cent and has stopped his last 10 opponents. He’s an accurate puncher who often changes fluidly from the orthodox to southpaw stance and owns a solid chin, but sometimes gets off to a slow start.
Basically, Crawford is the total package and is considered as one boxing brightest stars and pound-for-pound fighters. He’s 1.5-inches actually shorter than Spence though at 5-feet-8-inches tall but his 74-inch reach gives him a two-inch edge over Spence in that department. Crawford has boxed 224 rounds as a pro since making his debut in 2008 following an excellent amateur career. He owns wins over the likes of Shawn Porter, Amir Khan, Jose Benavidez, Jeff Horn, Thomas Dulorme, Raymundo Beltran, Dierry Jean, Hank Lundy, Breidis Prescott, Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol, John Molina Jr., Felix Diaz and Julius Indongo.
Crawford beat Burns by unanimous decision in 2014 for the WBO Lightweight Title and defended it twice. He beat Dulorme by sixth-round stoppage for the vacant WBO Jr. Welterweight title in April, 2015 and defended it five times. Crawford also defended the WBC Jr. Welterweight crown three times after winning it from Postol by unanimous decision in July, 2016. He then became the undisputed champion of the division with 2017’s third-round knockout over Indongo as he added the WBA and IBF belts to his collection. He then moved up in weight and captured the WBO Welterweight Crown in June, 2018 by halting Jeff Horn in the ninth round.
Prediction…
These are two of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. But they’re not meeting in their primes the way Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns did when they met for the first time back in 1981 as Spence is 33 and Crawford is 35 years old. They both bring plenty of amateur and pro experience to the ring with each boxer having beaten top opposition. Common opponents were Shawn Porter and Kell Brook with Crawford faring slightly better against those two. Spence and Crawford have comparable power but Crawford is riding a 10-fight knockout streak while Spence has stopped just one of his last four opponents. I believe Crawford is the more explosive puncher here while Spence is a little more consistent, technical and methodical. I think Spence’s jab and body attack will be the difference but this is such a close call. Still, I’m leaning towards Spence Jr to emerge as the undisputed Welterweight Champion on Saturday night.
