Crawford-Garcia More Likely Than Crawford-Spence
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 28 Nov 2018
One week ago on Saturday, WBO Welterweight champion Terrance ?Bud? Crawford (34-0, 25KOs) was in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to watch former sparring partner and current WBO Jr. Welterweight champion Maurice Hooker defend his title against challenger Alex Saucedo. Also in attendance to support Maurice Hooker was his fellow Texan and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (24-0, 21KOs). Hooker would not disappoint. In a close fight he recovered from an early knockdown and came back strong to knockout Saucedo in stunning fashion in the 7th round.
Before the match, Crawford and Spence had a chance to talk face to face about a possible match. After a little trash talking, they initially bet each other $100,000 only to go on and set a final bet at 1 million dollars to the winner of a future bout between the two.
This writer is a little confused. For the past year fight fans have been salivating and calling for a fight between these two fighters. It appears to be the best matchup in the welterweight division. Crawford is with promotional outfit Top Rank headed by Hall of Fame Promoter Bob Arum. Crawford appears to be the future of the welterweight division when Mayweather and Pacquiao retire permanently.
Crawford is a 3 division champion who arguably appears to be P4P (Pound for Pound) the best fighter in boxing. He stands at the threshold of greatness and becoming ?Mainstream?. Spence a former Olympian and is represented by the powerful and influential Al Haymon. Spence went to London and beat former champion Kell Brook for the IBF title in 2017 and has since made two title defenses. Although there are two other welterweight champions (Keith Thurman (WBA) and Shawn Porter (WBC), Crawford and Spence appear to be the ?best of the best?. Both fighters appear to have wanted to fight each other, but they were willing to let the idea of a matchup ?marinate a little? before it finally happened.
One would think if this fight did not happen it would be because of Top Rank and Al Haymon are unable to come to financial terms which is common in the boxing industry where Promoters, Adviser, Managers, Networks, Lawyers, etc. at time don?t agree. This fight may not happen at all or if it does happen it may not have the same appeal because Spence has signed to fight undefeated 4 division champion Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30KOs) on March 16, 2018 in Texas and could lose. Fight fans may instead end up seeing Crawford-Garcia in a PPV blockbuster in 2019!
Consider this: Garcia is an undefeated 4 division world champion. Garcia is no doubt an underdog in his fight with Spence due to Spence?s size and height advantage. That was obvious at the press conference to announce the fight. Spence is rumored to walk around at about 170lbs (welterweight is 147lbs) when not in training and his height is listed at 5 ?9 ? to Garcia?s 5? 6?.
Former IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter while not a welterweight is 5?11 which is taller than Spence. Garcia beat Easter and appeared not to have a problem with Easter?s height. By the time Spence melts down (dehydrates himself) to 147lbs it will be a very interesting fight. I think a more of an even fight. It will no doubt be a very dangerous fight for Spence. Garcia can box and move and can also fight ?toe to toe? if need be. Garcia also has excellent speed. This writer thinks Garcia is quicker than Spence. Garcia has more experience. He has been a professional under the tutelage of his older brother Robert Garcia (former IBF Jr. Lightweight champion) for 12 years to Spence?s 6 years. Mikey is 30 years old and Spence is 28 years old. All signs point to Garcia having the right tools and the ability to pull the upset victory.
If all these factors were considered, the Spence-Garcia fight should not have been signed, at least not until Spence and Crawford fought. Both Crawford and Spence should have both approached their respective Promoter and Adviser and had them negotiate the fight. Crawford is scheduled to fight former WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo on March 23, 2018 in New York. For the fans that desire a Crawford-Spence fight, they have to hope that the elusive Luis Collazo who happens to be a slick southpaw fighter, does not pull an upset against Crawford. This is boxing and anything can happen. They also have to hope that Spence will impose his will on Garcia and come out victorious or else that 1million dollar bet between both fighters is moot.
Boxing Notes
According to Mirror online, WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39KOs), ?insists racism is preventing him from achieving the acclamation his achievements deserves?. The color of his skin (Black) is one factor and the other is the competition of other American sports. Wilder has a great personal story (poverty, minimum wage job, one of his children was ill, adversity, etc.) He wants recognition for his achievements? I don?t blame him. Next Saturday on Pay Per View go out and defeat undefeated former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in spectacular fashion. Then go on and unify the heavyweight titles by defeating fellow undefeated Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in spectacular fashion as well. I?m sure he?ll be Mainstream if he does that because Wilder has the talent to dominate the Heavyweight division (This writer is African American or Black)?Congratulations to Maurice Hooker who showed a lot of heart to defeat Alex Saucedo. A couple more of defenses like that and Hooker could be ?The Man? to beat at 140lbs?Looking forward to Pacquiao-Broner fight. It will likely be a very entertaining fight. This is no doubt a ?crossroads fight? for both fighters. Future Mega PPV fights for the winner and the loser to evaluate if he should continue with his career.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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