Errol Spence Jr. doesn’t agree with Naoya Inoue being the 2023 Fighter of the Year. Spence feels that Terence Crawford should have been given the honor for his victory over him last July, which some fans agree with.
What swayed the decision to give it to Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) was his winning two fights to become super bantamweight unified champion this year. However, Crawford got the better win, besting the three-belt unified welterweight champion Spence by a ninth-round knockout.
Inoue’s two wins in 2023 came against Stephen Fulton via eighth round knockout in July and Marlon Tapales by a tenth round knockout last December to earn the super bantamweight undisputed championship.
“I don’t like it because he won off me, but Terence Crawford should have won the [2023] Fighter of The Year,” said Spence on social media.
Spence added that Crawford beat the #1 fighter in the world at 147 with his victory over him, but his revelation earlier today that he fought with a preexisting eye injury takes away the credit that Terence deserves for his victory.
What weakens Crawford’s case for being deserving of the 2023 Fighter of the Year are these things:
1. Fighting just once
2. Spence being injured
3. Not facing Errol at his best
4. Errol was coming off a 15-month layoff
If Crawford had accepted the challenge from Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, he would have surely won the 2023 Fighter of the Year honor if he won that fight, but he might have lost.
Boots would have been healthy, young, and not involved in recent car crashes, and he wouldn’t have started training camp fat & out of shape like Spence did for his fight against Crawford. If he had done a little bit more in 2023, he’d have gotten the honor.
Moving forward, Crawford needs to be busy with his career, fighting two to three times a year if he wants to win Fighter of the Year in 2024 and beyond. It would help if Crawford accepted the challenges of fighters like Boots Ennis so that he could have some wins that stand out.
