Crawford ~vs~ Spence; to marinate or not

[Illmatic94]

The relationship that boxing fans have with marinating is a funny one.

Loma vs Tank is a perfect example. Loma's fans say it should've happened years ago. Tanks fans say he needs more experience and to build it to something bigger.

Juanma vs Gamboa was a case of marinating gone wrong.

Khan vs Brook is marinating overkill.

Now we have Spence vs Crawford.

Arum is in full blown marinate mode (500K PPV?) and Spence and Bud are saying similar things about waiting until its bigger

some fans agree others say fck that make it happen this year

how do you feel about marinate in general?

and do you want to see the Bud/Spence fight this year or wait until both guys build a strong resume and then clash in 1-2 years?

[-PBP-]

I understand both sides of the argument but as a boxing fan I want to see the fight ASAP. I'm well aware of the business side of the sport but I'm not either guys promoter and won't benefit from letting it marinate.

[dibzvincent143]

Fans before pac-floyd: floyd is ducking pac for 5 years
Fans after pac-floyd: what a smart thing floyd did! He’s been marinating it for 5 years! See the results!! 500m!

I say give crawford-spence a year.

[RL_GMA]

The problem is you have 3/4 of the belts tied to Al Haymon / Showtime. Spence will likely fight Danny vs Porter winner early next year. Who know when Thurman's coming back and or against a top level opponent. Crawford I feel is going to have a tough time finding solid opposition.

Here's what I propose:

Spence vs Porter vs Garcia winner
Thurman vs Crawford winner

Both winners fight each other.

But if we're going by a timeline that won't be happening any sooner than Fall '19 / Spring '20. Will Spence still be making 147 by then? Kinda doubtful.

[WesternChamp]

no need to marinate. crawford vs spence will never be on the same level as floyd vs pac. give them until the end of this year. i expect them to fight each other in early 2019!

[GhostofDempsey]

Marinating serves two purposes--ducking or actually waiting until each fighter has a strong enough fan base to generate interest in a big showdown.

In the case of May/Pac, Floyd was clearly ducking, yet used the term "marinate" to somehow suggest he was a genius for marinating their fight for five years, but we all know it was ducking until Pac slowed down a beat or two.

In the case of Spence/Crawford (or Joshua/Wilder) I think it makes sense to build up interest in these fights to make them bigger events. May and Pac were already household names and superstars in their own right when Floyd insisted on "marinating", it just wasn't necessary.

I would like to see either Spence or Crawford unify the division for one undisputed champion. Something tells me Spence may move on to 154 before that happens. Hopefully Spence and Crawford will be able to get some quality opponents until they meet. I would like to see Spence get the winner or Garcia/Porter, but I doubt either of them want it.

[bluebeam]

1 year from now

[Dosumpthin]

I'm still amazed @ posters still claiming Floyd ducked Manny after

1. Manny refused the same test he eventually took. The same test is now EXPECTED and the NORM.

2. Floyd offered a 50/50 - despite being the A Side - agreed to an absurd weight penalty and even threw in an unheard of 14 day cutoff date for blood testing to appease Mannys blood phobia.



Considering all this recent 50/50 posturing from wilder aj canelo ggg - I would think people will have more respect for Floyd agreeing to 50/50.

Imagine if Wilder or AJ walked away from a guaranteed 75-100 million dollar payday over drug testing in 2018.

[WesternChamp]

I'm still amazed @ posters still claiming Floyd ducked Manny after

1. Manny refused the same test he eventually took. The same test is now EXPECTED and the NORM.

2. Floyd offered a 50/50 - despite being the A Side - agreed to an absurd weight penalty and even threw in an unheard of 14 day cutoff date for blood testing to appease Mannys blood phobia.



Considering all this recent 50/50 posturing from wilder aj canelo ggg - I would think people will have more respect for Floyd agreeing to 50/50.

Imagine if Wilder or AJ walked away from a guaranteed 75-100 million dollar payday over drug testing in 2018.

a negotiation involves 2 groups working things out. not just one guy making demands then saying "take it or leave it".

[Eff Pandas]

I don't think lits about marination more then standard political bs between two or more en****** in this case Arum, Haymon, ESPN+ and Showtime. Marination IS an issue but the politics of these en****** is the bigger issue I feel like.