By Geoffrey Ciani: Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford made boxing history with a career defining performance against Errol Spence Jr to win the undisputed world welterweight championship last weekend.
Entering their showdown for undisputed welterweight supremacy, Crawford and Spence were both undefeated champions, each of whom was viewed among the very best pound for pound boxers in the world. On paper, Spence and Crawford seemed very evenly matched. But in reality, they weren’t. It was a brilliant performance from Crawford, who dropped Spence in round 2, and twice more in round 7. The fight was ultimately stopped in round 9 when the referee mercifully waved it off when Bud was really pouring it on.
With that victory, Crawford had become the first undisputed world welterweight champion during the modern four belt era. This also marked Crawford as the first man to become a two-division undisputed world champion during the modern four belt era. Indeed, to date there have only been 9 men who have become undisputed in any weight class, the first being Bernard Hopkins, The Godfather of the Modern 4 Belt Era, who first earned this unique distinction at middleweight back when he beat Oscar De La Hoya in 2004. Other members of this exclusive club include: Jermaine Taylor at middleweight, Crawford at 140, Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight, Josh Taylor at 140, Canelo Alvarez at 168, Jermell Charlo at 154, Devin Haney at lightweight, Naoya Inoue at bantamweight, and finally Bud Crawford, once again, this time in the prestigious and historically rich welterweight division. On top of all that, Crawford made a very strong case as the very best pound for pound boxer in the world today (although Inoue and Usyk are still very much a big part of that discussion as well).
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will provide a fight review with opinions pertaining to Terence Crawford’s victory against Errol Spence Jr, and the historical significance of Crawford’s history making boxing achievements. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).