Crawford campaigns for Fighter of the Year: One Win Enough?

Image: Crawford campaigns for Fighter of the Year: One Win Enough?
Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford
By Chris Williams - 12/27/2023 - Comments

Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford has taken to social media to campaign for the honor of 2023 ‘Fighter of the Year’.

The Omaha, Nebraska native hasn’t been as busy as some of the fighters he’s competing with for the award, and he failed to take on the young lion who has been calling him out, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.

Crawford’s Argument:

In what some fans feel is a brazen attempt to be voted as the top fighter this year, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is making the case that he should be given the award for his lone win against Errol Spence Jr., who he points out was a top pound-for-pound fighter.

The 36-year-old Crawford, who captured the undisputed welterweight championship with his ninth round knockout of the car crash-wreck, inactive, weight-drained-looking Spence, didn’t put out any tacky ads or hire a press agent to do the campaigning on his behalf, the way movie stars sometimes do when vying for an academy award. That would obviously be pathetic, but who knows? It’s still early yet.

“I’m the only fighter to beat a top five pound-for-pound fighter this year, and the way I beat him was unmatched. 2023 Fighter Of The Year Is Me. Some might say, but I only fought one time, but that one fight was bigger than any of the others. #facts,” said Crawford on social media.

Quantity vs. Quality:

Beating a good, depleted fighter, Spence, might not be good enough for Crawford to outdo fighters that have been busier than him, like Devin Haney, who defeated WBC light welterweight champion Regis Prograis and former three-division world champion Vasily Lomachenko in 2023.

Those guys weren’t weight-drained, inactive, or messed up from a serious car crash like Crawford’s opponent, Spence, who hadn’t fought in 15 months and looked half-stunned when he stepped into the ring due to the weight that he’d taken off to make the 147-lb limit.

Spence had been rumored to have been over 200 lbs when he started training camp for the Crawford fight. Getting a victory over a popular fighter is impressive, but you have to look at where that fighter was at this point in his career. This wasn’t Spence from 2017 when he was still hungry, healthy and in his prime.

Spence is now a shell of the fighter he was back then, as his car wrecks, weight gain, inactivity, and huge wealth have taken the best out of him, leaving the punching bag that Crawford defeated.

Gervonta Davis’ knockout wins over Ryan Garcia and Hector Luis Garcia in 2023 would also have to be considered more impressive than Crawford’s single bout against Spence.