American boxing great Evander Holyfield has weighed in with his views on the upcoming super fight between welterweight kings Errol Spence Jr and Terrence Crawford.
Holyfield rose to the very top of the sport during the three-belt era and remains the only man in history to become undisputed at both cruiserweight in the 1980s and heavyweight in the 1990s. He had legendary bouts with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes and many more.
For most onlookers, the much-anticipated July 29 match-up for all four world welterweight tiles between long-time rivals Spence and Crawford in Las Vegas is right up there in the same bracket.
There is mutual respect between the two fighters as neither man has truly been challenged up to this point and has tended to dominate all comers. Shared opponents are Kell Brook, who was knocked out by both men and Shawn Porter, who lost on points to Texan Spence but was stopped by Omaha’s Crawford.
Speaking to Behind the Gloves, Holyfield shared his thoughts on who might come out on top and is picking the naturally bigger Spence to come out on top.
“Both of the fighters are great fighters. But when you fight, somebody wins, somebody loses.
And I just think that styles make fights. Both of the guys got good styles but I think it’s difficult, more difficult to fight a left-hander. So I would say Spence.”
While Spence is a career southpaw, Crawford is known for his ability to switch hit which may have some bearing on the outcome. Whoever gets their hand raised on Saturday night, though, can rightly claim to be a generational welterweight great.