Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch is expecting a very tight contest when Errol Spence and Terence Crawford collide in the ring later this month.
On July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Spence and Crawford will collide for the undisputed welterweight crown, with the WBO, IBF, WBA, WBC world titles at stake.
Froch views the bout as a near even fight, but he's giving Crawford a slight edge to come away with all of the belts.
“I like the older, wiser Terence Crawford. Errol Spence is a fantastic talent, a great fighter. Crawford is as well, but he’s just a bit older and a bit wiser - and when he needs to he can step it up a level," Froch stated on Froch on Fighting.
"He’s a bit similar to Oleksandr Usyk in the heavyweights. If he has a bad round, he then just steps on the gas. I think Crawford has that slight extra gear and is that little bit more special. So I’d say Crawford beats Spence, but it really is a 51-49 percent fight, nothing in it. It’s one I’m really looking forward to."
Crawford has averaged one fight per year since 2020, with a stoppage of Kell Brook in 2020, a stoppage of Shawn Porter in 2021, and then a knockout of David Avanesyan in 2022 last December.
Spence, due to injuries, had only seen action twice since 2020. He picked up a dominant decision over Danny Garcia in 2020 and then stopped Yordenis Ugas in their 2022 unification fight.
Both fighters have the option of exercising an immediate rematch clause, so most observers anticipate a second meeting taking place before the end of the year or in early 2024.