It’s a big fight week.
And yes, it’s a big welterweight fight.
For the umpteenth time in my 46-year run as a fan, the 147-pounders are taking their turns on the sport’s center stage – this time with a unification bout matching Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
The combatants are a pristine 67-0 with 52 KOs between them, not to mention all four significant belts in the weight class and 12 successful title defenses since 2017 and 2018, respectively.
So it’s certainly worthy of excitement.
Perhaps not to the all-time level of Leonard-Hearns from 1981.
But certainly akin to generational Trinidad-De La Hoya buildup in 1999, in spite of the Mayweather-Pacquiao level of stalling we’ve had to endure to get it.
Regardless, it got the Tuesday morning team to thinking about things on a grand scale.
A scale so grand, in fact, that an event of Spence-Crawford significance would be relegated to a mere pay-per-view appetizer on a four-bout card consisting of three other never-made fights – one more in the present and two in the historic sense, meaning mid-1970s forward.
Without further ado… here goes:
Bout No. 1 (historic) – Alexis Arguello vs. Roberto Duran
Ask yourself, just how much would pay for a card where Arguello-Duran is the second bout?
Second mortgages, anyone?
When it comes to fights between guys who swam in similar weight-class waters but never met, this one is near the top because both make my list of all-time favorites and all-time greatest. Arguello had such class and elegance in the ring that it often masked his ferocity; while Duran was just the opposite, a violent whirling dervish whose sublime skill set was hidden behind his furious machismo.
Whose will would have been imposed on the other? It would have been fascinating to find out.
THE PICK: Could Arguello have kept Duran off consistently for 15 rounds? I say no. Duran by decision.
Co-main event (modern) – Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk
When it comes to boxing’s mainstream it’s almost always about the heavyweights, so it’s probably no surprise that a matchup of the world’s preeminent big men would lead most modern dream-fight lists.
No question, it makes a lot of sense. It’s two heavyweights who’ve beaten every man they’ve faced. It’s two heavyweights who combine to hold every championship belt that matters. And, conveniently, it’s two heavyweights who’ve had each other’s names in their mouths for nearly two full years.
Now whether the fight would justify the build-up, that’s another question entirely.
Two wins over Anthony Joshua further legitimized the all-around skill set Usyk possessed at cruiserweight, but Joshua’s vulnerability since the first Ruiz fight creates questions about how good he was even on his best days. And Fury’s three-part evisceration of Deontay Wilder made it seem, when healthy, he’s head and shoulders above all heavyweight peers.
THE PICK: If the Fury who beat Wilder fights any other heavyweight, he wins. Period. Call it a KO 9.
Main event (historic) – Ray Leonard vs. Aaron Pryor
When I was 13 years old, there were a few certainties when it came to boxing: Larry Holmes was the heavyweight champ. Marvin Hagler was the middleweight champ. Ray Leonard was the welterweight champ. And Aaron Pryor was the guy I’d rather watch than any of them.
But lest you chalk it up to blind devotion or simply confusing an exciting fighter with a truly elite one, trust me… the “Hawk” from Cincinnati was fully deserving of both adjectives.
More than one expert will suggest the fact that he and Leonard never fought was no accident. And more so than any match I can recall since those teen days, this one still resonates as the one that got away.
Ray was a peerless boxer and far grittier than most had assumed when he emerged from the Olympics in 1976. Meanwhile, Pryor was fueled by frustration that he’d never had Leonard’s promotional advantages, and blended skill with fury and attitude on the way to becoming a 140-pound nightmare.
The size advantages – four inches in height, five in reach – were on Leonard’s side, but such deficits were routine for Pryor, who was the shorter man in each of his 11 title fights, all victories, nine by KO.
And he got off the deck several times in those fights.
So, if I ponder it multiple times, I can find a path to victory for each more than once.
But…
THE PICK: Pryor was amazing but flawed. If Ray hit him – and he would – he’d stay hit. Call it KO 13.
OK, there you go. My PPV for the ages. Come up with some picks of your own, and drop me a line or a tweet to tell me just how wrong – or gasp… how right – you think I am.
* * * * * * * * * *
This week’s title-fight schedule:
SATURDAY
IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO welterweight titles – Las Vegas, Nevada
Errol Spence Jr. (IBF/WBA/WBC champ/No. 1 Ring) vs. Terence Crawford (WBO champ/No. 2 Ring)
Spence (28-0, 22 KO): Seventh IBF title defense; Eighth fight in Las Vegas (7-0, 6 KO)
Crawford (39-0, 30 KO): Seventh WBO title defense; Held titles at 135, 140 and 147 pounds
Fitzbitz says: Another in a long line of great fights at 147 pounds. Spence is a legit talent and it’d be no surprise if he won, but I see Crawford as the tougher guy down the stretch. Crawford in 11 (60/40)
Vacant WBC bantamweight title – Las Vegas, Nevada
Nonito Donaire (No. 1 WBC/No. 3 Ring) vs. Alexandro Santiago (No. 3 WBC/No. 5 Ring)
Donaire (42-7, 28 KO): Twenty-third title fight (17-5); Held titles at 112, 118, 122 and 126 pounds
Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KO): Second title fight (0-0-1); Ninth fight outside of Mexico (3-1-4, 2 KO)
Fitzbitz says: Donaire’s a legend to some and bound for Canastota but he’s not been a world-beater in years. Santiago’s no boss but he’s far younger and 7-1-1 at the weight. Upset. Santiago in 10 (55/45)
Last week’s picks: None
2023 picks record: 23-9 (71.9 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,273-417 (75.3 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. He is a full voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.