By Robert Segal: Terence Crawford has been voted in as #1 pound-for-pound in Ring Magagzine’s updated boxing rankings for tonight of the top fighters in the sport in the aftermath of his spectacular dismantling of previously undefeated Errol Spence Jr. last weekend in Las Vegas.
Crawford destroyed the slow & lethargic-looking Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) in the ninth round in a fight that was in no way close.
Fans have been in awe of Crawford ever since, but some want to see him fight someone who hasn’t been depleted from two crashes, inactivity, and weight drain the way Spence has.
On social media, some fans disagree with Ring Magazine’s choice of Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) as the new #1 pound-for-pound fighter, as they feel that Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue should have the top spot for his recent win over previously unbeaten unified WBC/WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton, and for becoming undisputed at 118 last December.
Ring Magazine’s updated pound-for-pound rankings
1. Terence Crawford
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Oleksandr Usyk
4. Canelo Alvarez
5. Dmitry Bivol
6. Errol Spence
7. Devin Haney
8. Gervonta Davis
9. Teofimo Lopez
10. Vasyl Lomachenko
It’s easy to criticize this list because it doesn’t make sense to have Canelo Alvarez ranked above Dmitry Bivol, as he lost badly to him a year ago. IBF, WBC & WBO light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev is nowhere to be seen on the list despite holding three titles and has never been beaten.
Errol took a bad beating
“Spence is a good solid fighter. We shouldn’t demean that; we shouldn’t forget that. Crawford was faster. He had speed. He was faster,” said Teddy Atlas on Stephen A. Smith’s Youtube channel.
“Everybody said, ‘Oh, the other guy’s a naturally bigger guy.’ I tried to explain to people before the fight when I was breaking it down, and I picked Crawford by knockout. They were saying, ‘Well, the other guy’s [Spence] a bigger, stronger fighter and the naturally bigger of the two.'”
Spence wasn’t the bigger puncher than Crawford, and some of that was because a significant part of his training camp involved weight reduction. He took so much weight off that his power disappeared, leaving the weak fighter we saw out there fumbling around.
“I said that doesn’t correlate with power. So size does not connect with power,” said Atlas. “Punchers are born. They’re not made, and you either have molecule for molecule that kind of power or you don’t. He was the puncher.
“He was the guy that was more explosive going into the contest, even though he was the smaller man that moved up three or so weight classes. Speed, you could see a significant difference.
“Even though he was a smaller man, he had to reach, but he knows how to use the reach. He’s got those long arms. He’s a stone killer. He’s vicious.”
“It’s rare that I see a fight get beat up the way I saw Errol Spence get. It was so bad to me that I said to myself. I took into account the car accident he had, the way it shattered his jaws, teeth, the concussions, the detached retina,” said Smith.
The car crashes that Spence was involved in took a lot out of him. As wrecked as his Ferrari was, Spence is lucky to be alive. If he hadn’t been thrown from his vehicle, he probably would have died because the car was crushed.
Spence should consider retirement
“He should consider retirement after what happened to him last Saturday night. If not that, not allow him to box for the next year, considering the punishment he took,” said Smith.
“I need you to crystalize the kind of punishment Errol Spence endured. Errol Spence got destroyed. It was one of those situations where your soul was taken from you. That was a thorough a** whipping. I don’t say that with any pleasure. I love Errol Spence Jr.
“I thought he had a shot at winning this fight. I picked Crawford by decision. I did not see this coming. I did not see that it was going to be like this. It was that bad. It really, really, really was.
Spence’s car crash in Ferrari
“I just don’t know what to say. I expected Crawford to be faster, quicker, and I knew he had the power. I knew all of that, for those of you who don’t know. Look right here, here’s the video this is the car accident that Errol Spence Jr got into in October of 2019.”
It’s pure luck that Spence survived his car crash, but the reality is, he hasn’t looked like thee sam fighter in his last three fights since the accident.
“His Ferrari flipped over numerous times. He did not have a seat belt on, and he admitted that he was partying earlier, and it drank, and got behind the wheel of a car,” said Smith.
“He lost control of the Ferrari at a high speed, and it literally flipped over numerous times, ejecting him from the vehicle because he did not have on his seat belt.
“They reported that there were no facial fractures or anything like that, but it completely messed up his jaw, and not only did it mess up his jaw. It omitted his teeth to the point where he told the story about how when [Yordenis] Ugas hit him, he was looking down.
“He wasn’t hurt, but he thought that his teeth replacements had been knocked out and that everybody was going to see that he was toothless, for crying out loud, the bottom row of his teeth.
“This is what he’s been dealing with since 2019, but ladies and gentlemen, this ain’t the only thing Errol Spence has been dealing with. Did you know that Errol Spence Jr was in another car accident three months after that incident that nearly killed him?
“He reported that he was rear-ended. Did you know that even after that [accident] in December of 2022, and then you get into the ring against Terence Crawford, and you’re subjected to that kind of beating?
“That’s why Stephen A Smith is talking about potential retirement. That’s why Teddy Atlas was just on this show for a few minutes talking about, at the very least do, not fight for a year.
“Don’t spar with anybody. Don’t take any shots to the head. You damn sure shouldn’t get in the ring against Terrence Crawford,” said Smith.
