Roy Jones Jr: Errol Spence must beat Terence Crawford to prove he’s the best

By Boxing News - 08/02/2020 - Comments

By Chris Williams: Roy Jones Jr says he considers Terence Crawford a more proven fighter than Errol Spence Jr as a pro, and the only way Errol can prove he’s better is by beating him.

Interestingly, Jones views Crawford as having fought better competition than IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), and he sees him as having the superior experience in the game.

Jones doesn’t count Spence’s win over Kell Brook as having proven anything due to the eye socket injury the British fighter suffered during the fight. Also, Brook had experienced a similar eye socket injury in his previous contest against middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin in September 2016.

Spence’s recent win over Shawn Porter also doesn’t impress Jones because it was too close of a fight, and Errol barely won. In Jones’ mind, Spence still hasn’t beaten enough good competition to put him in the same league as Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) fight now.

These are Crawford’s best wins in the pro ranks:

  • Ricky Burns
  • Amir Khan
  • Jose Benavidez Jr
  • Egidijus Kavaliauskas
  • Jeff Horn
  • John Molina Jr
  • Yuriorkis Gamboa
  • Ray Beltran
  • Viktor Postol
  • Julius Indongo

Roy Jones Jr: Spence hasn’t fought anybody

“They both have something special that makes you want to see what they do next,” said Roy Jones Jr to Fighthub on Spence and Crawford. “A lot of people took it wrong when I said I like Crawford.

“I give Crawford the edge over Errol right now. They say, ‘Why did you say that,’ because Errol hadn’t fought anybody that we could measure him to because Crawford had fought people.

Image: Roy Jones Jr: Errol Spence must beat Terence Crawford to prove he's the best

“I wasn’t saying it’s guaranteed that Crawford would beat Errol, no. We haven’t seen Errol against the type of competition that Crawford has gone against yet. So it’s hard to judge and say he has the goods.

“To me, he seems like he has the goods,” said Jones about Spence. “And I want to see the fight. I know that great fighters turn-up against great fighters. So I want to see him [Spence] face the best.

“I think they’ll bring the best out of each other. But right now, Crawford’s opposition outweighs Errol’s opposition. The Shawn Porter fight was a good fight with Spence.

“Kell Brook did dominate Shawn Porter, but Shawn Porter and Errol Spence was a good fight. It was a very good fight. That’s why I’m saying that I’ve seen Crawford longer than Errol,” said Jones Jr.

Spence’s best opposition:

  • Shawn Porter
  • Kell Brook
  • Mikey Garcia
  • Lamont Peterson
  • Leonard Bundu
  • Samuel Vargas
  • Chris Van Heerden
  • Chris Algieri

Terence has consistently has been matched against lesser opposition since he turned pro in 2008, and you have to figure it’s going to stay that way until he retires.

Crawford has edge over Spence

“Crawford has been dominating for a long time,” Jones said. “Errol just came upon the scene now, but I need to see him do some more definitive things that give him the edge after a few more fighters, then I’ll say, ‘Okay, now you can fight.’

“It looks like an even fight now, but because of Crawford’s reputation and he’s been dominating for so long, I’ve got to give the edge to Crawford. Now I’m not saying that guarantees that Crawford wins the fight. I’m just saying what I’ve seen; I have to lean towards Crawford.

“That’s what I’m saying. I wasn’t saying that Errol can’t beat Crawford. I wasn’t saying that I like Crawford more than Errol. They’re both good fighters. Crawford has been around longer.

“You don’t take a guy that has been around that long and proven himself and say, ‘Oh, this guy is going to beat him.’ How could I say that? I don’t know that. I haven’t seen this guy,” Roy Jr said.

Crawford’s ring record doesn’t back up what Jones says about him having a better resume than Spence. That’s the whole problem. Crawford has been matched against so many B and C-level fighters during his career, which makes it impossible to rate him in the same class as Spence.

Image: Roy Jones Jr: Errol Spence must beat Terence Crawford to prove he's the best

Spence is in a position where he can further cement his status as the top dog at 147 by beating Danny Garcia on November 21, and then following that up with wins over Manny Pacquiao and Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman.

Crawford is in a tough position trying to prove he belongs at #1 at welterweight and on the pound-for-pound list, as his promoters are having problems getting him fights. That’s not likely to change in the future, unfortunately.

Errol’s win over INJURED Kell Brook doesn’t count

“Kell Brook, his eye socket, broke against GGG,” said Roy Jr in discrediting Spence for his win over Brook. “Do you think he’s going to come back the same? No. In his next fight, he’s got to fight Errol Spence. Do you think he’s going to be the same?

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“He [Brook] just came off eyesocket surgery. That’s not going to be the same thing. Let’s not be stupid. You should use your head. So I’m not going to be stupid with you.

“I’m going to tell you the truth. That man was coming off eyesocket surgery. He’s not the same. So you can’t count that. I don’t care if he did beat Shawn Porter easy. Shawn Porter still gave Errol Spence hard work.

“It was a very good fight. I spent more time in the fight, but that was a very good fight. I’m glad what he showed me that he’s got that dog in him that it’s going to take to deal with Crawford. So I see a little bit more.

“No, that’s what I was trying to tell them. I knew the fight was going to be close,” said Jones on Spence’s match against Porter. “Shawn Porter is a dog. I knew the fight was going to be close. That’s the first real stuff fight that Spence fought.

“The dude in England [Kell Brook] doesn’t count. He was coming off eyesocket surgery. He doesn’t count.

“You can’t count that the same. That’s all I’m trying to say. That’s what I’m trying to say,” said Jones about the Spence vs. Crawford fight is a 50-50 fight.

What lost the fight for Brook against Spence was the body punching more than the headshots. It wasn’t the eye socket problem that led to Brook quitting on one knee in the 11th.

Image: Roy Jones Jr: Errol Spence must beat Terence Crawford to prove he's the best

Spence must beat Crawford to be the best

“I’m not talking down to Errol. I’m just saying I haven’t seen him do what Crawford did yet, so I can’t give him the edge right now,” said Roy.

“The dude [Spence] may try and be the best of all of them. I don’t know that yet, but I want to see it. But I can’t say that until you show it.

“To be the best, you got to do what? You got to beat the best. Crawford is the best right now. To be the best, you’ve got to beat Terence Crawford. I’m not saying Spence can’t do that.

“To me, it is,” said Jones when asked if Spence vs. Crawford is the biggest fight. “They’re both young and coming up. Let’s fight while they’re in their primes. Don’t wait until you get older.

“Yeah, that guy can be good. He’s got a lot of potential,” said Jones about Vergil Ortiz Jr . “Both of these guys [Spence and Ortiz] have a high ceiling, but they haven’t done anything yet, so I can’t give them credit until they go take that.

“You don’t take a fast horse and say, ‘He’s going to win the Kentucky Derby’ because you don’t know. The Kentucky Derby may have someone that can run as fast as he can. Just because he has good times doesn’t mean he’s going to win the Kentucky derby.

“Boxing is in a very good place, but Boxing needs fights between Spence and Crawford. These are two good athletes with no ceiling,” said Jones.

A lot of boxing fans would disagree with Roy Jones that Spence needs to beat Crawford to be considered #1 at welterweight, considering that he’s already viewed as the best.