Naoya Inoue and Terrance Crawford
This past week, we saw two great fighters dominate their leading opponents in their division. Naoya Inoue fought for the 122-pound title against undefeated Steven Fulton, who was a slick boxer and the bigger opponent. Fulton only had eight knockouts in his twenty-one victories but there was a path to victory to upset the powerful Inoue.
Inoue not only dominated with power shots, but he also out boxed the taller Fulton. He landed double the jabs and was more accurate than Fulton. His hands speed showed up and yes, he also landed nearly triple the power shots. From the beginning of the fight, Inoue took control of the fight and there was not a round that Fulton even won.
Terrance Crawford faced Errol Spence, Jr. for undisputed control of the Welterweight division. Crawford cleaned out the junior welterweight and now he wanted two divisions that he was in complete control of.
Like Inoue did four days earlier in Japan, Crawford simply dominated the fight from the almost the beginning. The only round I gave Spence was the first round and that was more due to Spence’s activity as he threw nearly three times the punches, but he only connected on ten percent of them. In the second round, Crawford landed a quick left that sent Spence to the canvas and this was the first time Spence hit the canvas. From that point, Crawford took over the fight. He bloodied Spence’s nose in the fourth round and knocked him down two more times in the last minute of the seventh round before stopping him in the ninth round.
Shawn Porter, a former champion, and consistent contender for the title, fought both fighters but only Crawford ever stopped Porter in Porter’s career. And Crawford is the only fighter who defeated Spence and stopped him.
You could make the case that either fighter can be officially declared the best pound for pound fighter in the world since both fighters have held multiple titles and dominated their key rivals. What is more impressive is that both fighters can both box and knock out their opponents. Crawford out boxed Spence, landing triple the jabs and connected on forty two percent of his jabs. Spence could not outbox his opponent and was vulnerable to Crawford combinations. This was a similar performance to Inoue who also not only out slugged his opponent but out boxed his opponent. Their boxing skills allowed them to control their opponents and allowed them to dictate the pace of the fight.
Right now, I view Inoue as the best pound for pound but many boxing pundits will view Crawford as the best. You can make the case for both, and we will see over the next few years how this plays out. Crawford is 35 years, and his last fight was the best he ever fought. He is at his peak. Inoue is only thirty and now he has the opportunity to go from 108 pounds to maybe the lightweight division. The last fighter who followed a similar trajectory was the great Manny Pacquaio who went all the way up to the Welterweight division. Inoue has the skills and power to move up to at least the lightweight division. As for Crawford, will he go up to the 154-pound division? Both fighters will be Hall of Fame fighters when they retire and their place in boxing history is secure.
The Donelson Files 