BOXING FANS! Spence vs Crawford! Welterweight Unification! FINALLY!

[JackD201]

I love boxing and I hate the money politics of pro boxing. It has been a very long time since the days when the best just wanted to face the best as opposed to today where promoters and fighters cling to unbeaten records. Well TODAY we will finally get to see the best fighting the best at their prime. Just a few days ago boxing fans were treated to an epic fight where Monster Inoue moved up after unifying his old division and fought Scooter Fulton who held half the belts. Kudos to Fulton for not only taking the fight but taking it in Japan, the Monster's home turf.

Now we get to see the top two welterweights finally duke it out. Spence (3 belts) is a BIG welterweight expected to move up and challenge at Middle weight if he takes Crawford's Belt. He is fast, strong and is known to wear out opponents with bludgeoning body attacks. Crawford is probably the best switch hitter ever and a win here could cement that taking the distinction from Marvin Hagler. Crawford, undisputed at 140 and 1 belt at 147, is fast, extremely crafty and is a brutal finisher. These two guys can both fight at distance, middle range and inside the pocket. They can fight excellently on both the front or rear foot. Best of all is these two are offense first fighters who practice elite levels of defensive responsibility. These two guys are also known to have the most elite conditioning in all of boxing so 12 rounds of pure excellence can be expected of both. Man this is going to be good. I love them both and really believe that both are true champions and both are future hall of famers.

We boxing fans have been waiting for this fight for YEARS and today we get it!

I'm betting Crawford by decision but really anything can happen and the odds show it.

Who do you think will become UNDISPUTED?

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

 

[Holli82]

I love boxing and I hate the money politics of pro boxing. It has been a very long time since the days when the best just wanted to face the best as opposed to today where promoters and fighters cling to unbeaten records. Well TODAY we will finally get to see the best fighting the best at their prime. Just a few days ago boxing fans were treated to an epic fight where Monster Inoue moved up after unifying his old division and fought Scooter Fulton who held half the belts. Kudos to Fulton for not only taking the fight but taking it in Japan, the Monster's home turf.

Now we get to see the top two welterweights finally duke it out. Spence (3 belts) is a BIG welterweight expected to move up and challenge at Middle weight if he takes Crawford's Belt. He is fast, strong and is known to wear out opponents with bludgeoning body attacks. Crawford is probably the best switch hitter ever and a win here could cement that taking the distinction from Marvin Hagler. Crawford, undisputed at 140 and 1 belt at 147, is fast, extremely crafty and is a brutal finisher. These two guys can both fight at distance, middle range and inside the pocket. They can fight excellently on both the front or rear foot. Best of all is these two are offense first fighters who practice elite levels of defensive responsibility. These two guys are also known to have the most elite conditioning in all of boxing so 12 rounds of pure excellence can be expected of both. Man this is going to be good. I love them both and really believe that both are true champions and both are future hall of famers.

We boxing fans have been waiting for this fight for YEARS and today we get it!

I'm betting Crawford by decision but really anything can happen and the odds show it.

Who do you think will become UNDISPUTED?

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

Nothing like a big fight in Vegas. Crawford was the clearly the better fighter from round 2 on. I think he is better than Hagler and he (Hagler) is one of my favorite fighters. Crawford has Hagler fire-power but he does not get hit nearly as much as Hagler did in his prime.

Inoue is special. It't a shame that he is not well known here in the states.

 

[rob]

Have to agree Jack, I'm also a boxing fan and have been following Inoue's career, he's a real talent. A once in a generation fighter.

Spence V Crawford is a great match up, I can't believe how good Crawford was on the night. He was spectacular.

 

[JackD201]

I really felt bad for Spence but I'm very grateful as a fight fan that he took the fight. I wish him all the best at 154.

The last time I watched a big fight in Vegas we hung out Rodney!

Spectacular indeed Rob. I wonder who Bud will defend against next. Pacquiao says that he would love to help Monster should he want to move up in weight. "Oversee his training" says Manny who gave young Inoue some tricks some time back. That would be cool.

 

[hopkins]

I've watched the fight three times over. I too am a long time fan (and still practitioner). I am just in awe at Crawford's near perfect performance. The timing, speed, and accuracy of his punches and movements were really impressive. Those short counter punches, exploiting Spence's sometimes careless attacks, were just perfect. Inoue is a "complete package" as well, but with him it is slightly more of a "brute force" approach than Crawford, who is one slick boxer. Both are exceptional fighters. They will hopefully win over some more fans to boxing, showing that the sport can (still today) be elevated to a true art form.

 

[hopkins]

I think he is better than Hagler and he (Hagler) is one of my favorite fighters. Crawford has Hagler fire-power but he does not get hit nearly as much as Hagler did in his prime.

Different styles. Crawford is more economical. Hagler was more aggressive. I find it hard to rank them - I love them both, but I do have a soft spot for Hagler. I love the fluidity and suppleness of his movements.

 

[hopkins]

I watched the beginning of the Crawford-Spence fight again. Crawford only starts landing his jab at 50 sec before the end of round 2. Then 30 seconds later, at 20sec from the end of the round, he knocks him down with a jab! When you play those 30 seconds in slow motion, if you have the file or can watch a version on youtube, you can see from Spence's expression that the first jab really bothers him, and he becomes immediately apprehensive of throwing his own jab. Interesting to watch how the tide turns with a small adjustment at that point in time, foreshadowing the end of the fight.

You can also see in the first round and the first two minutes of the second round how Crawford is letting Spence feel comfortable, himself protected by a very economical but effective defense. He's watching him and I think he sees how Spence opens himself up to the jab and counters, but Crawford is not taking advantage of it yet. Anyone who's ever had a try at boxing will tell you that keeping your composure and staying "aware" of your opponent's every move while being attacked (not to mention countering) is not so simple! Mayweather does this extremely well also. In fact there's a cool video of Andre Berto being interviewed about Mayweather, and explaining exactly that.

There's talk of Spence having over-trained himself, drained himself from cutting weight, which certainly did not help, but watch those first two rounds and you can see that Spence never really had any way of winning against Crawford.

 

[JackD201]

I agree totally. Teddy Atlas described Crawford's "eyes" really well.

 

[hopkins]

Will check out his commentary on the match. He's very passionate and always interesting (but so talkative!).

 

[JackD201]

Hahaahahaha Yes very!!!!

 

[JackD201]

I fear my compatriot Tapales will be destroyed by Inoue next.

 

[hopkins]

I fear my compatriot Tapales will be destroyed by Inoue next.

Coming soon

David Morrell was impressive last weekend!

 

[hopkins]

So the Tapales-Inoue fight was good! Better than last weekend's cards (Joshua, Wilder, etc...).

I don't know why Tapales did not fight the entire time in the "Philly Shell" stance that he used so successfully in the middle rounds. Funny to see how Ryan Garcia tried it as well in his last fight but was very awkward and obviously does not master it like Tapales does.

The Shoulder Roll Masters

BOXRAW look back at the legendary fighters who mastered the art of the shoulder roll including Floyd Mayweather Jr.

boxraw.com

James Toney demonstrates use of this in this impressive win: