Khan picks Terence Crawford to beat Errol Spence

By Boxing News - 03/26/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Amir Khan says he views Terence Crawford as the best fighter at welterweight and he thinks that beats IBF/WBC champion Errol Spence if/when they fight each other. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) has talked of wanting to make the fight with WBO belt holder Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), but neither are in the position to make that happen.

It’s not surprising that former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) is giving the 32-year-old Crawford the edge over Spence, considering that he was stopped by him in the 6th round last April at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Crawford landed a textbook version of a low-blow that finished Khan for the night. The referee didn’t penalize Crawford for the low blow, and the fight was subsequently stopped when Khan’s trainer opted to pull him out.

Khan high on Crawford because he’s a switch-hitter

One of Khan’s rationales for believing that Crawford can beat Spence is because he’s a switch-hitter. In other words, Crawford, who normally fights out of the orthodox stance, is capable of turning the southpaw. However, Spence is a southpaw, so it’s debatable whether Crawford comes out ahead if he turns southpaw against Spence.

It could be just a wasted move on Crawford’s part. When he turns southpaw in his fights, he doesn’t seem to do better. Although the commentators get excited when Crawford does this, the reality is he’s more effective when he’s fighting with his normal right-handed stance.

Crawford’s head snaps back too violently when he gets hit, and he wastes time on using junk stuff that doesn’t work like changing stances.

Khan: Crawford is the best fighter at 147

“Crawford is probably the best fighter in the welterweight division,” said Khan to Fighthype in implementing Terence. “I think Crawford is on a different level when it comes to boxing. I’ve been in the ring with the guy. I’ve shared the ring with him, and his IQ is so high, his speed is good, and his power is there.

“It’s going to be very hard to beat him. You know the fighter that I would love would be Crawford and Mayweather. What a fight that would be. You got two technical all-around fighters,” said Khan.

A prime Floyd Mayweather Jr. would beat Crawford, as would Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns.

You can’t say that Crawford is the best fighter at 147 because he hasn’t fought any good opposition in the weight class, and the same goes for him when he was at 140. It would be naive to say that Crawford is #1 at 147 or even at 140 given the opponents that he’s faced.

You can compare it to someone rounding up a stray person for game one-on-one basketball in the park, and then pronouncing yourself as the 1 player in the world after beating him. You haven’t proven anything. Crawford is in the same boat. You can’t call him number one.

 These are the fighters Crawford has fought at welterweight:

  • Amir Khan
  • Egidijus Kavaliauskas
  • Jeff Horn
  • Jose Benavidez Jr.

As you can see, Crawford’s experience at welterweight is too limited to call him the best in the division or even the second-best. The only thing we know is Crawford is better than Horn, Benavidez, Khan, and Kavaliauskas. That’s a pretty mediocre group of fighters.

We know that Crawford got dropped by Kavaliauskas, and that tells you something. Spence wouldn’t get dropped by Kavaliauskas.

Crawford slightly better than Spence

“No disrespect to Spence. His power is really good, and he’s a good fighter as well,” said Khan when asked if Spence can beat Crawford. “I think Crawford has that extra edge in that fight with his movement and his slickness. They’re both switch-hitters. Spence is more of a southpaw and sticks to southpaw.

“It just depends on how he [Crawford] is going to deal with a southpaw, and big, heavy southpaw. It’s hard to call that fight. It’s a good fight, don’t get me wrong, but I edge more towards Crawford, but you don’t know what Spence is going to pull out of the bag, do you know what I mean? That’s what makes boxing the best. You never know what’s going to happen in a fight,” said Khan.

It makes Khan look better by saying that Crawford is the best fighter at welterweight because lessens the sting of him losing to him. By Khan saying that Crawford is the top fighter at 147, it gives him a pass for losing to him.

Is Khan high on Crawford because he lost to him?

Instead of Khan facing the reality that he was never a good welterweight, to begin with, he labels Crawford as the best in the weight class after losing to him. It’s an old thing that fighters do after they lose to someone. Rather than looking in the mirror and realizing that they’re just not that good, they tout their conqueror as the #1 fighter in the division.

Crawford is a good fighter, but right now you can’t say he’s better than any of these guys:

  • Keith Thurman
  • Errol Spence Jr.
  • Manny Pacquiao
  • Yorgenis Ugas
  • Shawn Porter
  • Danny Garcia
  • Vergil Ortiz Jr.

I would pick all of those fighters over Crawford right now based on what I’ve seen of him in his four fights in the welterweight division.

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