The time has come! Spence-Crawford: FINAL PREDICTIONS!

I'm quite happy to accept that Spence, any version thereof, might have lost to Bud.

But is Bud some generational talent? Was Spence?

I'm open to suggestions. But I'm not sold, yet.

 

Before the nonsense starts I'm putting it out there now. Stop the Bud vs Boots/Slippers/Slides nonsense.

We've seen that fight. It's Inoue vs Fulton II.

Boots gained traction because he fought a mummy with no footwork nor head movement. Unless Bud plans to fight like Frankenstein Slippers has zero chance.

Absolutely shocked by what happened last night despite it being clear Spence was a dead man at that weight. Even if Spence were better it only would have gotten him to the 12th round and prolonged the beating.

 

Fulton is nothing like Ennis. It's night and day. Fulton is just a workman like guy, not particularly talented.

He has nothing like the physical gifts Ennis has.

 

Don't agree. Bud moved to 147 in 2018 and had years to acclimate and fight bigger guys. I look at it like Tyson-Holyfield. Pre-prison Holyfield hadn't fought Bowe, Holmes, Foreman and Lennox. Post prison Tyson wasn't the same and Holyfield had that experience and Tyson was the "smaller" guy.

Add in the car accidents, drinking and lifestyle Spence isn't in 2023 what he was in 2018. It would have been an even fight THEN, obviously not now.

 

Yeah, but there's a difference.

Prime Tyson actually has physical advantages over Holy.

Spence at no point in time was as talented as Bud.

 

Ennis has more talent in his left bollock than Fulton has in his whole body.

Ennis might not have had the same career success yet, but he is a much, much better fighter than Fulton.

 

And it's not even close.

 

How did those gifts look when he fought a guy who gave him some semblance of movement? Dude literally has 30 fights and is what, 26? Long list of B fighters at best on his ledger. Lest we not forget, dude literally side stepped Spence to fight for that email strap he has. Perhaps he should have enforced that mandatory.

Not a fan of Sandals. Another philly hype job.

 

and neither are very good nor special. As said, Philly hype.

 

Boots would have the same level of hype if he was from Boston.

Philly has nothin to do with it.

 

True. Spence fought at 156 in the amateurs then spent 10-11 years at 147. Of course it's an unnatural weight. The layoffs, accidents and hard partying didn't help. He should blame PBC for keeping him at 147 so the Charlo's could fight in the divisions above him.

That being said, what we saw last night would have occurred at 154. Perhaps not being so dehydrated would have gotten Spence to the 12th but it was more than that. Skill wise, tactics wise Crawford beat him at every facet.

I hope Errol makes enough he can retire comfortably. Last night was 3-5 fights worth of ass whuppings. He's a spent bullet.

 

Philly hype?

I haven't seen any over the top hype for Boots.

 

Ricky Burns went 12 with Bud.

 

Bud didn't hit his peak until 140.

 

Yea, can't agree.

Ennis has legit knockout power in both hands, better handspeed and reflexes than Fulton

He's longer and quicker than Crawford. It's a completely different fight inwhich Crawford won't be able to control the action with his jab like vs spence

Also, wasn't aware of this narrative he ducked spence

You really believe that bullshit?

Ennis career is on a similar trajectory to that of mosley

He chose not to sign with the major promoters so he has been on the outside looking in, viewed as too dangerous risk vs reward.

 

Because people are going way overboard on the win. Spence did worse than the Euro scrub Crawford fought. Like someone here said Crawford is better than Floyd and Pea and that kind of thing is being said. There is going to be blowback on that. He beat Errol Spence ffs. I predicted a shit fight that Spence would win. I underrated Crawford, hes better than Spence and the guys around but the fall out is too much. I thought Spence would pull the Mikey Garcia tactics and jab all night at range, really trying to not give Crawford anything to work off. The initial kd was poor from Spence, getting caught after throwing the jab to the body like that but most of the times he was getting hit he was coming onto the punch or just getting caught after punching and not having the ability to exit properly. He did look declined. I hate to aftertime but a win like this isn't a licence to go way overboard either.

 

I dunno about how he'd fair against Mayweather or Pacquiao; but Cotto is food for Crawford. Moving in, he'd be countered to death and on the back-foot , he'd be jabbed to death. I do tend to think Crawford has a better chance against Mayweather than Pacquiao. The only reason I say this is because Crawford has an incredible jab.

His long-arm pawing jab works as preemptive defense against incoming jabs, patting them out or away before they're any kind of threat. Having his hand constantly pressing against there's also let's Crawford control the position of their hand, either by subtly patting their hand away from where he doesn't want them, or by pulling the guard down, or Crawford's speciality, stiff-arming. The long-arm pawing also has a tendancy to create a comfortable lull of gentle proding, which Crawford uses to take advantage of his opponents with a sharp, piecing jab.

He doubles up on that piercing jab; often to the head then the body. Aside from keeping range, Crawford also sets up his power shots with the jab, by establishing patterns before breaking them once the opponent is comfortable. His entire offensive strategy is built on the idea of establishing a set rhythm and breaking it with a shot his opponent isn't expecting, and his jab and switching of level changes are perfect for this. He also likes to add those harsh jabs after his power shots, as well.

Mayweather in his money era only really faced two good jabs. And both Cotto and De La Hoya did very well against Mayweather all things considered; but neither had the ring IQ to keep up with Floyd's adjustments, and while De La Hoya had the same reach advantage Crawford would; but having a reach advantage as a southpaw and an orthodox are two entirely different things. Crawford's reach and jab would be extremely troublesome for Floyd IMO; at least early on.

 

Cotto isn’t that durable and I think Crawford would have made minced meat out of him. It would be worse than the Margarito fight because Bud wouldn’t need 6 rounds to get the timing down on him.

This is unpopular to many on social media, but I always felt Crawford would have had a counter punch festival against Manny. Once Bud adjusts to the hand speed and rhythm of Pacquiao, I think he’d bomb him with counter rights coming in. Pac can always turn the momentum of the fight with a punch Bud doesn’t see. But the styles favor Crawford.

Floyd would have absolutely NEVER taken a fight with Crawford. Not at 147, not at 154. Stylistically,‘it’s an extremely difficult fight for Floyd. Crawford had the timing to catch Floyd with stiff counters when he tried his leaping left hook or leaping right hand. And he could potentially capitalize on what Corley was doing well early, and force Floyd to readjust, which IMO would lead to Floyd resorting to absolutely stink out the joint, avoiding anything resembling an exchange like he did agaisnt Castillo in the rematch and against Pac. It’s a judges fight IMO and it would come down to how they see the beauty contest(As George Foreman said during the Trinidad-De La Hoya broadcast).

 

Wow, while I knew Crawford was the type to fight to the level of his opposition, I did not think he could fight at this high of a level. Tremendous performance and gives hope that he can pull a B Hops and solidify his legacy in the later stage of his career.

 

At 33 and getting trashed like this in his first super fight... I highly doubt it. Only hope imo is if he was dead at this weight.

 

While I usually agree with your sentiment, I'm not sure Butterbean's dad is wrong in his assessment of Spence. It's not that he lost but how he lost, in his first fight vs an A class opponent to booth. Hard not to feel he was a bit overrated (me being the first to do so). Plus he's picking Bud over Pac and Cotto, so it's not like he's not giving him his due (most would think that's overrating him).

 

It's not overrating Bud to pick him over Cotto. It is plain as all day that Bud's a higher echelon fighter than Miggy.

 

Pacquaio shamelessly avoided Crawford for the last 7 + years

 

I mean I get that it does feel harsh on Crawford because he did even more than what was expected so it makes it look like he is in a no win situation.

 

Oh I agree, and personally, I would probably favor him over Pac and PBF (mainly because their prime was at much lower weights though). Still, I think oddsmaker would make Crawford only a slight favorite over Cotto.

 

I don't know how the odds would look, all I know is the fight would end with Cotto a swollen and bloody mess and the ref jumping in to save him.

 

Agreed. Cotto would have a much better chance against Spence than TC.

 

Crawford is a generational fighter. He's the closest thing to Hagler we'll ever see.

Spence, big fan, but no, he's not deserving of being labeled "generational." He's just not talented enough to wear that label.

 

I’d take Spence over Cotto. Prime for prime at 147. Mainly due to the size and stamina advantage Spence would have over Miggy.

 

2017 Spence vs 2007 Cotto would be one helluva fight. There isn't a big gap in separation either way between them. Both would fall short against the welterweight greats.