Terence Crawford delivered one of the single greatest boxing performances of modern times to ruthlessly dismantle Errol Spence Jr and make history as the new undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
By defending his long-held WBO gold at 147 pounds and also adding Spence’s unified WBA, WBC and IBF titles, Crawford became the first man ever to become undisputed in two different weight classes in the sport’s four-belt era, surely also earning the title as the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet after producing a controlled masterclass to utterly blow away a fellow celebrated undefeated world champion on a stunning night in Las Vegas.
‘Bud’, now 40-0 with 31 knockouts, made an absolute mockery of most pre-fight predictions that found the duo almost impossible to separate, dropping only the first round as he made a typically cautious start at a sold-out T-Mobile Arena to a super-fight some five years in the making that many claimed was the biggest boxing had seen since Floyd Mayweather’s underwhelming so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ against Manny Pacquiao back in 2015.
But Crawford - accompanied on his ring walk by rap superstar Eminem - was totally ruthless thereafter, stunning Spence with a terrific one-two in the latter stages of the second round that sent his rival down to the canvas for the first time in his professional career on a truly miserable night for ‘The Truth’.
While Spence showed great bravery and heart and continued to try and take the fight to Crawford, he was repeatedly caught by enormous punches and saw his face a bloodied mess early on as his opponent continued to demonstrate his incredible accuracy, power and precision.
The calm and collected Crawford, by contrast, did not have a mark on him and carried on taking Spence apart in ruthless fashion, with the latter hanging on somehow despite the extensive damage to his face and perpetually unsteady legs. However, he was dropped twice more in a brutal round seven after Crawford executed first a perfect counter right uppercut and later a fierce right hook that landed flush with full force.
After easing up a little in the eighth, the end finally came in round nine, when Crawford doled out yet more shuddering, violent punishment as Spence desperately tried to cling on and stay upright, with referee Harvey Dock having seen enough as he stepped in to rightly wave off a hopelessly one-sided beatdown.
Despite a punishing first pro loss that drops him to 28-1, Spence confirmed quickly after the final bell that he would be activating his clause for a rematch, targeting a December bout that he hopes is fought up at the light-middleweight limit of 154 pounds.
On Saturday's undercard, Mexican contender Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz somewhat flattered to deceive as he earned a close split-decision win over Chicago southpaw Giovanni Cabrera in a WBC/WBA title eliminator at lightweight, also winning the vacant WBO Latino and WBC Silver titles.
The legendary Nonito Donaire was unable to become a world champion again at the age of 40, being outpointed by Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago in a gruelling 12-round battle for the WBC bantamweight title vacated by Naoya Inoue after his move up to 122 pounds.
Exciting Cuban super-welterweight prospect Yoenis Tellez opened the four-fight main card with an explosive third-round stoppage of experienced former European champion Sergio Garcia of Spain.
In the early prelims, Crawford's long-time sparring partner Steven Nelson dominated Rowdy Montgomery but disappointingly could not seal a stoppage against a late-replacement opponent as he instead took a wide points win to move to 19-0.
The night opened with Mexican super-bantamweight prospect Jose Manuel Salas Reyes sealing an impressive fourth-round stoppage of two-time world title challenger Aston Palicte of the Philippines.
