Terrance Crawford had been one of the past pounds for pound fighters having been first a lightweight champion before cleaning out the junior welterweights and faced Spence jr. for Spence WBA, WBC, and IBF title along with his own WBO title. Spence, Jr. had been a Welterweight titlist since he defeated Kell Brook in 2017 for his IBF title.
Spence, Jr. was a slick boxer who could change sides seamlessly, had a power full jab and could sting the body with powerful shot. He had been a welterweight for his entire career as Crawford moved up to the welterweight. Crawford was one of those fighters who combined both power and boxing style, but I viewed this fight as a close one before the opening bell rang. I was wrong.
Crawford often took the early part of the fight to figure out his opponent and often ended up giving up early rounds on the scorecard but often came back in the second half of the fight. In the opening four rounds, Spence averaged nineteen punches landed and thirty-five thrown compared to Crawford landing only seven punches and throwing fifteen. Spence has been a consistent puncher as he averaged nineteen punches landed per round throughout the bout, but Crawford increased both his input and accuracy as he will double both his punches landed and thrown over the final four rounds. This trend would indicate that it would be close fight with Spence most likely to win early rounds.
According to CompuBox, Both Spence and Crawford are among the top ten when it comes to landing combinations punches and their data were similar coming into this fight.
The first round was a feeling out round as Spence threw forty-seven punches while he only landed five punches and Crawford landed two punches but then Crawford starts out slowly as usual. While I gave Spence the first round, it had more to do with him throwing a ton of punches, but he was ineffectual. This would be the last round he would win as Crawford turned this fight into a virtuoso performance.
In the second round, Crawford nailed Spence with a straight left that sent Spence on his seat. Spence got up quickly, but this was first time Spence hit the canvas and it gave Crawford a 10-8. The third round was close as Crawford landed fourteen punches to Spence 17 punches, but Crawford was the more accurate puncher as he connected on those fourteen punches in while throwing only thirty-seven punches whereas Spence needed to sixty-two punches to land seventeen. Crawford had the more effective defense and Spence was having trouble landing those big shots.
In the fourth round, a straight left backed up Spence and hurt him while a hook busted up Spence’s nose. In the fifth round, Crawford landed upper cuts and hooks as he dominated the round. Spence looked spent but he showed his guts by fighting on. Crawford continued to land punches at will and in the seventh round, Crawford sent Spence down twice in the last minute of the round with lefts.
The eighth round was a mere prelude to the final round as Crawford closed the show as he landed combinations that stunned Spence before the referee stopped the fight.
At the age of thirty-five, Crawford proved himself at the top of his game and this may have been his greatest fight. He connected on 185 punches to Spence 96 punches, and his connect rate was 50 percent and landed 60 percent of his power shots, something that no other Spence’s opponents had ever done.
What was supposed to be a close fight turned into a rout for Terrance Crawford who showed that he is one of the top pounds for pound fighters. Last week Naoya Inoue showed that he was a complete fighter and Crawford proved to be equally a complete fighter. Both men can box, and they can slug.
Crawford often started fights slowly, but, in this fight, he only used the first round to have his feeling around round but by the second round, Crawford figured out his opponent and from that point, it was all Crawford. Crawford has now become the undisputed champion in two different weight divisions, at 140 pounds and 147 pounds, so where does he go from here? He can fight Jaron Ennis or Vergil Ortiz or move up. Spence wants a rematch but not at welterweight but at junior Middleweight as he is no longer going to fight as a welterweight. So, does Crawford move up to the Junior Middleweight or finishes up the Welterweight division? Would Crawford domination of Spence hurt the rematch even if at a higher division? And not forget a rematch at junior Middleweight would not be for a title, there will be less than appeal for the fight. For now Crawford proved himself one of the elite boxers in the world.
The Donelson Files 