Undefeated American boxers Errol Spence and Terence Crawford will meet this Saturday in Las Vegas, where the winner will emerge as the first to claim the undisputed welterweight title in the four-belt era.
Spence, champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC), the World Association (WBA) and the International Federation (IBF), brings a record of 28-0 with 22 knockouts.
For his part, Crawford, holder of the World Organization (WBO) belt, has a 39-0 record with 30 knockouts.
Crawford, the former lightweight world champion and undisputed light-welterweight champion, is riding a 10-consecutive knockout streak, including seven in a row in his first seven fights at welterweight.
“It’s going to be even sweeter to win the undisputed championship for the second time,” Crawford, 35, said upon arriving in Las Vegas this week.
The Nebraska native launched his welterweight career against Jeff Horn in 2018 for the WBO title.
In his last fight, Crawford knocked out David Avanesyan in the sixth round in December. No opponent has taken him the distance in over six years.
Spence, “resilient”
That victory paved the way for the much-anticipated matchup with Spence, who returned from a retinal tear that canceled out a planned fight with Pacquiao to punish Yordenis Ugas of Cuba en route to a 10th-round technical knockout in April last year.
That marked Spence’s second return from injury, the first being when he was out of the ring for months after a car accident in 2019.
Among the many who have longed to see the two face off is legendary trainer Freddy Roach. He views Crawford as having the advantage as being “more complete,” but notes that Spence has a perfect record against a stronger roster of opponents.
Spence has highlighted the quality of his opponents by dismissing pundits who consider him the underdog.
He traveled across the Atlantic to stop Kell Brook in the 11th round and claim the IBF title in 2017. In 2019, he captured the WBC belt with a win over Shawn Porter.
“Every belt I’ve gotten I’ve taken from somebody,” Spence said. “I won champion after champion.”
Spence also insists that he is simply better than Crawford, and he intends to prove it on Saturday.
“I am the best boxer. I am better physically, mentally, I am more resistant than him. My skills are superior,” he stressed.
Crawford promises “fireworks”
Crawford, unsurprisingly, disagrees. “Terence Crawford is the best fighter in the world right now, and that’s who he is,” Crawford said Thursday at the final pre-fight news conference. “This is the Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford era,” he added.
“When you look at the body of work I’ve done and every weight class I’ve been in, you can’t deny that this is my era,” he added.
Spence plans to make it his own on Saturday in a fight he thinks fans will be talking about “30 or 40 years from now.” “I guarantee you it will be nothing but fireworks from start to finish.”
On the undercard, Filipino Nonito Donaire faces Mexican Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title.
A former four division world champion, Donaire (42-7 with 28 KOs) will be trying to bounce back from a brutal second-round knockout loss to Naoya Inoue 13 months ago.
“I’m going to take that belt home and there’s no second option for me,” Donaire, 40, said of the title Inoue vacated when he moved up to super bantamweight.
For his part, Santiago, with a 27-3 record with 5 draws and 14 knockouts, said that “we are preparing to face the absolute best version of him, and we are fully aware of what he is capable of doing.”