Errol Spence Jr will face Terence Crawford to crown an undisputed welterweight champion – and he believes the bout will go down in history as one of the greatest ever.
Following years of failed talks, the two 147lbs champions signed on the dotted line to settle a great debate of modern-day boxing.
Fans, fighters and pundits alike are excited, and talk has turned to just how good the fight could turn out to be.
A comparison to Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao was put to Spence on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. The unified champion said it may be similar in box office, but that the mentality of the fighters and the potential for violence was where it differed.
“Box office, definitely. When you talk about the talent, them two fighting and the expectations of it, I don’t think nothing comes close to this [Spence-Crawford]. This is like a real old school fight. Sugar Ray Leonard-Tommy Hearns – their fight was labelled as ‘the war.’ And I think that’s something like this fight should be labelled as.
This is basically two men who both got their zeros with the mentality to kill. Two apex predators coming at each other. So I feel like we ain’t got the mentality of Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather – our mentality is kill or be killed.”
The 2015 bout between Mayweather and Pacquiao came too late in the day for many fans, but delivered nonetheless. The American – champion in five weight classes – beat the man from the Philippines – eight division title holder – over the distance by unanimous decision.
Spence-Crawford has little chance to come close to the scale of Mayweather’s win over Pacquiao in terms of box office – numbers reported hover around 4 million buys – but Spence’s summing up of what will happen in the ring is another reason why fans will tune in.
Although both boast incredible skills, they both prefer to end fights inside the distance, with Spence boasting 22 stoppages from 28 and Crawford 30 from 39.