By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford is now Ring Magazine’s #1 ranked welterweight, taking the spot from Errol Spence Jr. after stopping gatekeeper Shawn Porter in the tenth round last Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The injured IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) has been demoted to the #2 spot in the Ring Magazine boxing rankings, thanks to Crawford’s win over the past his best Porter last weekend.
The Ring Magazine’s decision to push Crawford to #1 makes sense because Spence is out with an eye injury, and he’s only fought once against Danny Garcia since his terrible car crash in October 2019.
Crawford is still NOT the #1 welterweight
Contrary to popular opinion, Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) was far from great against the 34-year-old Porter. Chris Williams had Porter winning that fight going into the tenth round, and he might have won had he not gassed out.
Crawford is still a good fighter, don’t get me wrong, but the aging gatekeeper Porter showed the level of the Nebraska native. The fact that Crawford couldn’t dominate a guy on his way out the door like Porter shows that he’s not what some boxing fans think he is.
I mean, Yordenis Ugas did a better job against Porter than Crawford did and got the business by the judges two years ago. That was a better version of Porter than the old-timer that Crawford fought last Saturday.
After the way Crawford looked against Porter, it’s fair to say that he would lose to these welterweights now:
- Errol Spence Jr.
- Jaron Ennis
- Vergil Ortiz Jr.
For me, Spence Jr. and Ennis are the two best 147-pounders on the planet right now, and Vergil is right behind them. Crawford showed in his fight with the gatekeeper Porter that he’s not among the top three at 147 now.
The 24-year-old ‘Boots’ Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs) would have destroyed Crawford last weekend if he had been in there with him rather than the past his prime Porter.
I hate to say it, but Porter exposed Crawford, and he looked old and fragile, getting hurt three times in the fight by a non-puncher.
Ennis might be the true #1 welterweight now, given the downtime Spence has had since his last fight.
Crawford is nowhere near the level that Ennis is at right now, and that would be a massacre if that fight were to take place.
Ring Magazine welterweight updated rankings
1. Terence Crawford
2. Errol Spence Jr.
3. Yordenis Ugas
4. Jaron Ennis
5. Vergil Ortiz Jr
6. Danny Garcia
7. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov
8. Eimantas Stanionis
9. David Avanesyan
10. Radzhab Butaev
Fans want Crawford vs. Spence
“As great as he is and can be, there is a limit to how far up you can go,” said Teddy Atlas to THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas on the possibility of Terence Crawford going up to 154.
“He’s already gone up three weight classes, Mr. Crawford. I would guess Brian Castano [would be the champion Crawford could face at 154]. That would be the spot that he’s looking at, probably if he’s legitimately looking there.
“Canelo is doing it,” Atlas said in giving an example of a fighter moving up in weight. “You got to understand that it’s not the weight. It’s the person that’s there.
“He [Canelo] can probably find the right guy that’s there [at cruiserweight]. He found the right guy at 175 when he found Kovalev when Kovalev was at the point where he was at in his life and his career.
“Everybody wants to see one fight for him [Crawford]. They want to see Spence. It doesn’t have the drama for me,” said Atlas on a potential fight between Crawford and Josh Taylor. “Spence has the drama. He’s the boogeyman.
“Taylor is a solid guy, but he’s not Terence Crawford. I think Terence Crawford takes him apart,” said Atlas.