The crowd was astonished by the masterful performance that the Undisputed Welterweight Champion Terence Crawford put on display last night in a nine-round TKO performance against Errol Spence Jr with both fighters coming into the match with undefeated records.
Round 1 was the most even duel of the fight, but Round 2 is where Crawford started to assert his dominance and show why he sits atop the throne. Round 2 got the crowd riled up with both fighters having textbook-like punches that would make a trainer drool.
The highlight moment of Round 2 that ignited the crowd was when Crawford did a left-hand power flash jab combination off a Spence over jab that knocked Spence to the ground at the 20-second mark of Round 2 for the first time in his illustrious career.
The crowd was livid in Las Vegas as they couldn’t believe what they just witnessed. But, that was only the beginning of what was seemingly a magical night for Crawford as he dismantled Spence the rest of the way and changed the trajectory of the fight after that first knockdown.
Round 3 Crawford and Spence both exchanged and landed a few punches on each other here and there to start off, but then Crawford exhibited some great defense and ability to recover after taking an uppercut from Spence that quickly resulted in a fury of cheetah-like punches from Crawford that knocked Spence off his gameplan.
Crawford’s impeccable hand speed and counterpunches were showcased throughout the entire night… Just ask Spence’s face as his left eye and right side of his lip were bruised, battered, and beaten.
Coming into Round 5, all the momentum was on the Omaha, Nebraskan native Crawford’s side as Spence desperately needed some power punches to go his way to gain some momentum back and points from the judges.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as it seemed every time Spence was going to make a move, such as the left-hand jab he had on Crawford, Crawford easily ate it up like how a fat kid loves cake without a flinch or any resemblance of vulnerability.
Crawford hammered right back with some puissant punches that got Spence off-balanced after a failed power punch from Spence that showed Crawford’s elite defense.
Round 6 you saw the blood gushing and oozing out more from Spence’s right eye and right side of his mouth from the punishing jabs of Crawford.
In that round you saw Crawford gaining more advantage over Spence not only physically but mentally as you saw Spence backing up throughout the fight, something we’re not accustomed to seeing from the accomplished fighter.
Spence tried to get to the body of Crawford to try to get him off his game and to have to think about something. But, Crawford amazed the audience once again with incredible counterpunches that looked like it was out of a shotgun with how ferocious they were that almost put Spence out once again.
The first half was all Crawford, who at the time landed 58% of his power punches going into the halfway mark, astounding efficiency.
Crawford knocked Spence to the crowd once again in Round 7 off a right cross jab at the 1:58 mark of the round as Spence thought he had Crawford where he wanted him, only to end up sitting and staring at Crawford once again from the ground.
Crawford did it once again moments later with the fight all but over as he knocked Spence down for the third time off an implausible right hook to close out Round 7 with the crowd roaring!
Crawford had Spence where he wanted him all night but getting him to back up and looking like a shell of himself due to Crawford’s power and timing.
Crawford would close out a performance for the ages with a series of cross jabs and power punches on Spence that had him on the ropes as the judges finally rang the bell… The fight was over and a new Undisputed Welterweight Champion was crowned.
Both fighters gave their respects to one another as Crawford ultimately held the crown.
Crawford made history by becoming the first fighter to be an undisputed champion in two divisions after claiming the welterweight belt.
Crawford landed 42% of his jabs to Spence’s 11%, 60% of his power punches to Spence’s 34%, and half of his shots in total compared to Spence’s 20%. An overall masterpiece of efficiency, power, and timing for one of the best boxers of all time as he landed 18 body shots to Spence’s 37. But like like the great metaphor of anything in life, it’s about quality, not quantity and that was showcased once again on Saturday night.
Is Terence Crawford the best boxer on the planet?
Yes
No
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