Errol Spence Jr. believes more than four welterweight titles will be at stake when he battles Terence Crawford on July 29.
The undefeated IBF/WBA/WBC 147-pound champion claimed prior to his open workout Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas that the winner of their 12-round title unification fight will have earned his place as the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in boxing.
“Definitely, the winner of this fight will be the best fighter in boxing, period,” Spence told Premier Boxing Champions’ Ray Flores before he worked out at Fight Capital Gym.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, and Spence (28-0, 22 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, are in the top five on most pound-for-pound lists, but only Crawford ranks number one on any of the more well-known lists.
BoxingScene.com, which has former undisputed bantamweight champ Naoya Inoue ranked number one on its list, has Crawford at number three and Spence at number four.
ESPN.com listed Crawford at number one and Spence fourth in its most recent top 10. The Ring magazine most recently rated IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk first, Crawford third and Spence fourth.
While pound-for-pound placement is subjective, Spence and Crawford will undoubtedly compete to become boxing’s first fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era when they square off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. They’ll fight for Spence’s three titles and Crawford’s WBO belt in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event ($84.99; 8 p.m. EDT; 5 p.m. PDT).
Having spent the better part of the past two months training intensely and promoting their showdown, Spence senses a lot of anticipation among hardcore and casual boxing fans who’ve wanted to see him face Crawford for roughly five years.
“I’m definitely feelin’ the buzz,” Spence said. “I been feelin’ the buzz. You know, I go to the store, go anywhere, and the first thing someone asks me is when me and Terence Crawford gonna fight? So, I knew it was a fight that, you know, I had to make happen, both of us had to make happen because this is what the public definitely wanted. This is what everybody wanted. This is what I wanted. This is what he wanted. And [this] will prove who is the man at the welterweight division – not only the man at the welterweight division, but who is the man in boxing.”
Most sportsbooks list Crawford, a three-weight world champion, as a slight favorite to beat Spence, who has owned at least one welterweight title for the past six years. Crawford, a former undisputed junior welterweight champion, has beaten each of his seven opponents in the welterweight division by knockout or technical knockout since he moved up from the 140-pound limit five years ago.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.