The stars finally align - Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence

Great fighters give us great fights. I’ve always been fascinated with the stories behind the fighters, their journeys, their own trials, and tribulations, (injuries, contractual issues, egos and political rivalries, setbacks, uncertainty, and disappointment), and what it takes to have the mindset to be greater than great.

To show the world who really is the greatest of them all. Timing is important but it’s not always been the case when the stars do align to make way and open the doors to give us a fight that stirs our every emotion and lives on in our mind’s eye forever. It’s pure magic.

Spence v Crawford is one of those fights that will be talked about and read about in the years to come, alongside other magical welterweight battles like Roberto Duran v Sugar Ray Leonard, Randolph Turpin v Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard v Tommy Hearns, Shane Mosley v Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Robinson v Kid Gavilan II, Carmen Basilio v Tony De Marco II, Jose Napoles v Emile Griffith, and John H Stracey v Jose Napoles.

Errol Spence Jnr (28-0- (22 Kos) debuted in 2013, after the London 2012 Olympics, with an impressive amateur campaign of 135-12. The Desoto, Texas native exploded into the professional ranks, fighting 8 times in a year and with big wins over fellow southpaw Chris Van Heerden, and former world champion Chris Algieri, he was solidifying himself as one of the best fighters in the world. In 2017, he traveled to Sheffield, England to fight the man known as ‘Special,” Kell Brook and he battered the IBF champion with head and body shots until the fight was stopped in the 11th round, breaking his heart and his left orbital bone and taking the belt back to Texas. It was clear early on that Spence Jnr was targeting the same eye that was damaged by Gennady Golovkin the previous year.

He had paid his dues and big-money fights and more championship belts were on the horizon. It was strap time but only if the fights could be made.

Terence Crawford (39- 0 -30 Kos) turned professional in 2008 after a good amateur career (70-12) and the fast-switch-hitting boxer from Omaha, Nebraska soon showed that some fighters just adapt better in the pro ranks. After beating everyone he faced, and impressive wins over Breidis Prescott and the experienced Mexican, Alejandro Sanabria,

It was now 2014, and Crawford traveled to Scotland to challenge the nations WBO lightweight champion, Ricky Burns and in the fight, he proved too good to win his first world title. He defended the title, beating the talented Cuban, Yuriorkis Gamboa by TKO, and then Ray Beltran on points and from there he faced Thomas Dulorme for the vacant WBO junior welterweight title, hammering him in 6 rounds to win a world title in another weight class.

Crawford beat Viktor Postol (28-0) on points to unify the WBC and the WBO titles at 140 in 2016 and go on to beat John Molina Jnr, and Felix Diaz in fine style and all the talk was of Crawford moving up to 147.

As Spence Jnr was relieving Kell Brook of his senses, Crawford was on his own path to be the undisputed champion at 140 pounds and in his sights was the hard as nails southpaw from Namibia, Julius Indongo (22-0) who held the IBF and the WBA belts. In the fight, Crawford destroyed the champion and knocked him down and out in the 3rd round. Indongo would fight again, but he was never the same.

After this historic win, there as more talk of moving up to challenge the top guys at welterweight. As I said, sometimes timing is important and for Crawford, timing was everything. Australian school teacher, Jeff Horn had won the WBO welterweight title by beating Manny Pacquiao in Australia and he made one defense before it was announced that he would be going to Vegas to face Crawford. In the fight,

It was very clear, very early that the man from Omaha was in a different class altogether and after giving Horn a beating for 9 one sided rounds, Terence Crawford became a 3-weight world champion. The years following were outstanding peak years, beating Jose Benavidez Jnr by TKO in 2018, Amir Khan by TKO in 2019, and Kell Brook by TKO in 2020.

2019 was also a dominant, period in Spence’s career, fighting Mikey Garcia at the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Texas in front of 50,000 fans, throwing a career-high punch output of 1,082 punches and proving to be too fast and too good for the tough and proud Garcia. There was more talk about fighting Crawford and ‘ It’s strap time’

Next up was arguably Spence’s hardest opponent to date in the WBC welterweight champion, Shawn Porter. A tough, skilled, and experienced boxer. The fight was set for Los Angeles and the fight lived up to all expectations as both champions fought like warriors. It was a Tough close fight but, in the end, Spence prevailed, fighting not only his fight but Porters, to win by a split decision to take the WBC strap and yet another step closer to greatness.

With only a matter of a few weeks after the Porter fight, there was devastating news on Spence being involved in a serious car accident, with him being catapulted from his Ferrari before the car was wrapped around a pole. Spence survived the horrific ordeal but many thought he may never return to boxing. Why would he?

In March, 2020, 6 months after the crash, Spence was back in the gym and in the December of that year he came back to fight the tough Philadelphia fighter, Danny Garcia in New York, beating him on points by using his jab, reflexes, superior southpaw skills and more importantly, a high work rate to make a statement that he was back.

It was then announced that Spence would be fighting the legendary Filipino, Manny Pacquiao and while it seemed that Pacquiao was at the tail end of his career and the size of Spence would be too much for him, the fight was on none the less. Not long after the hype of the announcement, there was the news that Spence had been injured in training camp and he had damaged his eye in sparring.

The date and venue were set and powers that be had to find a replacement to keep the money rolling in. The next man in line was the talented and rock-hard, Cuban, Yordenis Ugas. The man from Santiago De Cuba was always going to be a hard fight for anyone and on the night, he proved that. Again, timing in boxing isn’t everything but with Spence out, Ugas was in and the stars aligned, and he fought hard and did what he had to do to win and set himself up for life.

With Spence away from boxing again with historically and in most cases, a career ending detached retina on his left eye, all hopes of Spence boxing again was slim to none. He had made money; he lived a great family life so why would he risk it?

Crawford stayed focused on his own legacy and next up was Shawn Porter. The obvious interest was to see if Crawford could beat Porter easier in 2021 than Spence did in 2019.

In the fight, it was a rough tough battle with heads coming together, and Crawford switch hitting, confusing Porter, and fighting the perfect fight using balance and brilliant footwork, to showing Porter his speed and movement, picking him off and knocking him down, before the towel from Porter’s corner came in at the 10th round. With this win, Crawford went for some rest and recovery and trying to figure out his own contractual obligations and options, and the next thing, there was news that Spence was coming back to boxing and his comeback fight would be for Ugas’s titles. The fight was set for April 2022 at the Cowboys Stadium and many wondered what Spence would have left, and if his eye would hold out against the durable and hard punching Cuban world champion. In the fight, Spence showed unbelievable footwork, sharp combination punching and he battered Ugas’s body but Ugas came back , staggering, and hurting Spence and hitting him with a huge uppercut that knocked his mouth guard out in the six round but Spence held on and eventually wore down, and pummeled Ugas and his right eye until it was completely closed, with Ugas suffering a broken orbital bone to his right eye, and the fight ending in the 10th round. All things considered, it was a remarkable victory.

With Spence back, a fight with Crawford was alive again. Crawford signed to fight David Avanesyan just before Christmas 2022 in front of his hometown fans in Omaha and he gave them all something to be cheery about, knocking the Russian out in 6 rounds. With both champions agreeing to face each other after years of uncertainty disappointment and frustration, all paths have been cleared to fight, all we can do is wait and let the stars align and let time do what it does.

The fight

For Crawford to win, he will need to double up on the jab to get through Spence’s high guard defense, which is the key to controlling the pace and to keep Spence on the outside, with the idea of catching Spence as he comes in wild. Spence tends to over commit, leaving himself open to a counter with the hook or an uppercut, then going to the body and always finishing with a right hook to Spence’s left eye. Patience, boxing IQ and Crawford fighting his fight are his keys to victory.

For Spence Jr. to win, he must impose his size and bully his way inside, not letting Crawford get into any kind of rhythm, and throw hard combination punches to Crawford’s body and head. Controlled Pressure and power are the keys to his success.

Crawford by TKO in the 11th round.

Gary Todd has been involved in all aspects in the sport of boxing for over 30 years. He is an international bestselling author with his books on boxing. Go to garytodd.org to check out his latest best-seller “Annie’s Boy “