Crawford and Spence fight for all the marbles at 147lbs (Picture: Getty)
Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford brings together the very best boxing has to offer with former welterweight champion Kell Brook anticipating a fight for the ages in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Few are in a better position to look ahead to one of the biggest fights in the sport than the former IBF champion Brook, who fought both men during his storied career at the top.
Spence touched down in Sheffield looking to dethrone Brook in his own backyard in 2017, 27 years old having won all 21 professional fights to date with a burgeoning reputation as a future star.
It only grew that night after he stopped Brook in the 11th round, passing his first test outside of the US in superb fashion. The IBF belt has been in his possession ever since, adding the WBC strap to his collection in 2020 and the WBA last year.
Brook rebuilt after that defeat and in 2020, secured his second world title shot, taking on Crawford for his WBO title. It ended in another defeat for the Briton, who had been leading on the scorecards before he was pummelled into a fourth-round TKO defeat.
Now happily retired, Brook believes that in addition to crowning a first undisputed welterweight champion of the four belt-era, Saturday night’s showdown will confirm who is the pound-for-pound name in boxing across all its divisions.
‘I was one of those who worried we might never get this fight on. Now we have two of the best in the game and whoever wins is going to be the pound-for-pound no1 in any division,’ Brook told Metro.co.uk.
Spence came to Sheffield to take Brook’s title in 2017 (Picture: Getty)
‘It is going to come down to who has got the best game plan, who has prepared the best for the other man and who will deal with the pressure. Because believe me, there will be huge pressure on both of them.’
Spence, 33, has fought just twice in the last three years. Following his unification victory over Shawn Porter in September 2019, the Texan was involved in a serious car crash, not returning to the ring until December 2020 when he eased to victory over Danny Garcia.
Spence was set for a showdown with the legendary Manny Pacquiao in the summer of 2021 but was forced to pull out after suffering a retinal tear. Again, he returned without missing a beat, beating Yordenis Ugas in April last year.
In the same time period, Crawford has fought four times with Brook questioning whether activity could play a role on Saturday.
Crawford was ruthless against Brook in 2020 (Picture: Getty)
‘Errol Spence is a very big, very strong welterweight, he goes to the body well. He’s very stand up, a serious top fighter in every department,’ Brook said. ‘The only thing that is maybe against him is being inactive in recent years, dating back to the car crash. That will play a factor in this fight.’
Spence enters the contest with a slightly superior knockout ratio, 78.57 percent to Crawford’s 76.92 percent. But such is the obscenely high skill level of both men, it seems unlikely things will descend into a slugfest on Saturday.
‘It is very deep tactically, it’s the best of the best here,’ Brook continued. ‘Crawford can naturally switch hit between southpaw and orthodox so comfortably that you can’t read it. It shows how special he is. He comes at odd angles and he’s such a good finisher.
‘He doesn’t punch as hard as Errol Spence but at this level, that doesn’t mean everything. Look at Floyd Mayweather, he made it look easy against Canelo. It is down to the IQ. There are only small percentage margins between these two and we’re going to find out who’s got that advantage.’
Spence pummelled Ugas to claim his third world title last year (Picture: Getty)
‘One of them will have that X-factor, that slight edge on the night, and that comes from who handles the pressure best and deal with the lights on them.’
Picking weaknesses between two of the best on the planet is tough going but having prepared for both fighters in the past, Brook has previously broken each man down looking for chinks in their respective armours.
Against Spence in 2017 and in some of the American’s subsequent fights, Brook believes there have been moments of impatience and frustration. And while he knows only too well how Crawford can move through the gears, he suggests the Omaha fighter can occasionally be guilty of starting slow.
Crawford has held his WBO belt since 2018 (Picture: Getty)
‘Spence can get a bit frustrated in a fight early on, I noticed that when I fought him and over the years since. He can get hit and he can get hurt. With Terence, I think there were times early on when I was sharp shooting and outboxing him in the early rounds when we fought.
‘Crawford is not the fastest starter. He warms up and gets better as the fight goes on. It is hard to go back to both fights but it’s going to be incredible. There is going to be bombs and haymakers at some stage and there is going to be a lot of deep tactical work, extremely high-level fighting around the ring. We will see it all.’
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Brook bowed out of boxing following his grudge match victory over Amir Khan last year with many of the division’s former stalwarts now moved on. At 33 and 35 respectively, Spence and Crawford are in their pomp but the Sheffield fighter believes there is already a young challenger ready to rival the pair for top spot in Jaron Ennis.
‘He is looking good, so good that he could be the one to succeed them,’ Brook said of the 26-year-old. ‘He has great ability, punching power and like these guys, massive boxing IQ. I put him up there in the elite, among the best in the world.
‘We don’t know for certain [how good he can be] until he gets in there with someone better or equal to himself and we see how he responds, how he takes a shot and deals with pressure on a big stage. That is when we know when a fighter has a real X-factor, when they can tie in all those qualities with the ability to do on that highest level.’
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The former world champion fought both men during his career at the top of the welterweight division.
