Spence is doing all the lifting?

[champion4ever]

It’s the closest thing to Leonard-Hearns in the modern era for me, two top elite Welterweights who’s styles will no doubt gel for a great fight IMO.

You are right and I just can't wait. It's going to be a real treat for us boxing fans. It's the battle of two undefeated welterweight champions.

At first I was leaning towards Spence to win this fight because he is naturally the larger man but after witnessing Crawford's demolition of Shawn Porter; Now I am forced to reevaluate and reassess my pick.

Right now I have this fight too close to call. It's a dead heat. While I am slightly leaning towards Crawford at this point to defeat Erroll Spence. However, this fight could go either way in my judgement.

May the best man win because I would have never thought that I would ever say this but I am a fan of them both because Terence Crawford has really grown on me as a fighter.

I never fully appreciated just how good this man was. I'd always knew that he could fight but it never really dawned me until i saw him defeat Shawn Porter. From that night he has made a fan out of me.

[champion4ever]

my gut feeling is 154 would suit Spence a lot more than it would Bud...

Spence is just the bigger guy with bigger things on the horizon...

Spence doesn't need Bud as much as Bud needs Spence !

You are right and I agree but I still believe he wants this fight with Terence Crawford though before moving up to 154.

[Obtuse]

Ha, you got a point. If Spence went balls to the wall and jumped straight in with Charlo or Castano then I think even I would forget all about the Crawford fight for a while. I can't lie, I love the idea of that. Don't get me wrong, I say what I say about Spence but I'm a fan.

it just seems like boxing politics are getting in the way and Bud and Errol probably won't happen for whatever reason...

that's the black eye of boxing...it's the cross promotions..

I'm 62 and have been a boxing junkie since the mid 70's and I've come to the realization that we're probably not gonna see Crawford/Spence ever fight when it mattered most

[HandsofIron]

Error Spence is ducking, plain and simple. And I honestly don't see the Crawford fight ever happening. If Spence's scary azz beats Ugas, he will duck Crawford by moving up to 154, fight bums and call it a career (Spence might duck Thurman at 154 too).

[The Big Dunn]

He is the more accomplished Welter, but better? That is up for debate, that's why we wish Spence wouldn't duck. Crawford is easily the more accomplished Boxer though. He's done more at more than one weight than Spence has done at 147.

I just posted Crawford is higher p4p imo primarily because he’s done more in more divisions.

Our disagreement is because you and the rest of the FOTBM brigade keep blaming the wrong person for the fight not happening which is ridiculous given the facts.

Spence wasn’t the one that chose to sign with TR as a free agent knowing it would mean inferior competition and no unification.

Bob engineered this, you guys blame haymon and pbc. Crazy.

[Cypocryphy]

Ridiculous. Your opinion is driven solely by your dislike for PBC. If Crawford had them all scared, then why resign with TR?

I agree that Crawford is one of the best boxers in the planet. That makes his decision to resign even more questionable.

He had an opportunity to prove that but chose money. Stop blaming pbc and Spence for that choice.

Spence unifying with Ugas isn’t ducking Crawford. He’s taking in Ugas in his return fight from injury. Ugas is better than any ww Crawford fought outside of Porter- a guy many on this site feel beat Porter when they fought despite Porter getting the win.

Lets see where Crawford signs. If he chooses anywhere but PBC then it’s clear he isn’t trying to show he’s the best ww but instead fight easy guys for big money While complaining in the media about being ducked.

Sadly, that strategy works because there is a legion of “fans” who are part of the “ fear of a black manager” brigade who blame all fights that don’t happen on the Haymon affiliated boxer regardless of the facts.

Its like when Tim signed with TR. clear sign he didn’t want to fight the best ww in the world.

That's absurd. Haymon is about making money, and he gets a cut from all of his fighters, whether they win or lose. It will always be the same amount. So Haymon is not this magnanimous man that you think he is. He is someone who has created a brand, a "brand" that you bought into, and he is trying to promote that brand as best as he can, so he can make the most money that he can. Put another way, Haymon is milking his stable of fighters. He needs them to have the best chance of winning so that they can continue to win and bring him more money. Crawford is a high risk fight that could ruin his last remaining lucrative fighter.

Look, Haymon lost Wilder. Wilder is done. That was his cash cow. Wilder will be retiring. Broner was done well before Wilder. Then there was Thurman, and after he loss again to Manny, Thurman is done. Tank, although primarily Mayweather's cash cow, just had a stinker of a pay per view. Then there's Spence, who's out of the ring activities (primarily drinking) has seemingly ruined his career. You take that and the fact that the PBC is not replenishing their stable of fighters, you can see the reason why Haymon is not crossing the street anywhere. He want's complete control of the matchmaking process, where he can pit fighters against low level opposition. This whole Thurman vs Barrios fight is supposed to put Thurman in a position to steam roll Barrios and get a W back on his record, to get Thurman back on the right track because Thurman was one of the biggest draws the PBC had. This is all orchestrated to rescue the sinking PBC from drowning.

And all of this leads to the situation that Crawford is in. Haymon is not going to let any of these fighters go after Crawford. Porter was an exception because Porter had already lost too many fights for Haymon to keep him on a leash. Porter had no one left to fight other than Crawford too. Crawford had no one left to fight as well, so it was the perfect fit. But there is no way in hell that Haymon is going to let anyone else fight Crawford because the probability of losing is too high, and he doesn't have enough money right now to pay both fighters. Had Wilder won his fights, had Thurman won his fights and had Spence not been in an accident, we might have had the Crawford vs Spence fight. But the financial situation of the PBC is too precarious now, and Haymon is risk adverse.

Haymon's whole philosophy is that he wants to be the only one making money off of his fighters and to do so without any repercussions. He's not this kind, benevolent man you think he is. He's just like every other promotor (yes, he is a promotor behind the scenes) out there. You should accept the truth of the matter.

[sicko]

If Crawford is truly a Free Agent, something can be worked out to make both very Happy and Wealthy so % Split won't be a issue

Spence is the bigger draw because his team and FOX just did a way better job and promoting him while Bud Promoter treated him like a Ugly Stepchild and took the opportunity to tear him down and tell the world he wasn't a Draw so BOB ruined any leverage Crawford thought he had and he continues to say Bud is not a draw which might be true but the Promoter shouldn't be run around say that then somehow expect to negotiate for 50/50

Ugas will take Spence to hell and back, this is not a easy fight at all and Ugas is good enough to pull the upset especially if Spence is not the same so people need to stop looking ahead.

[QueensburyRules]

Error Spence is ducking, plain and simple. And I honestly don't see the Crawford fight ever happening. If Spence's scary azz beats Ugas, he will duck Crawford by moving up to 154, fight bums and call it a career (Spence might duck Thurman at 154 too).

- - Yeah, Spence be ducking U begging for his autograph. Thanks for the reminder...

[Sctrojan]

you make good points and appreciate your point of view...

I guess it would all depend on how Errol broke into 154 though..

if he got by the winner of Charlo/Castano II right out of the gates (like I think he might) Bud would be left out in the empty division..

and I disagree...

I think Errol would take Bud to school

I would love to see Spence in with either of them two at 154 but I seriously doubt Spence will ever fight Jermell,let alone his first foray at 154. They're stable mates and have been good friends since they were kids. Not only that,Jermell is a big ass 154lber,he would be way too much for Spence to handle imo. Even though he's smaller in stature,I'd heavily favor Castano in that much up as well. Forget 154,we need Spence vs Crawford first and foremost.

[HandsofIron]

- - Yeah, Spence be ducking U begging for his autograph. Thanks for the reminder...

Hurry up and tell your boy to fight Terence Crawford.