NEW YORK – Tom Brown believes there even is more at stake for Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford than becoming boxing’s first fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era.
The primary promoter of their 12-round, 147-pound title unification fight next month thinks the winner should also be crowned the sport’s pound-for-pound king. Though the selection process is subjective, Crawford and Spence are among the top five fighters on most credible pound-for-pound lists and each of them will face the toughest opponent of his career when the opening bell rings July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Like I said yesterday at the LA press conference, this fight really is as big as it gets,” Brown said during a press conference Wednesday at Palladium Times Square. “We have the two best fighters in the world, both [undefeated] world champions, in a generational fight. We haven’t seen fighters with skills like this at 147 pounds since Leonard-Hearns [in September 1981].
“Now Terence Crawford became the undisputed champion at 140 pounds back in 2017, and now he’s got the chance at history by becoming the first two-weight division, undisputed world champion. But one thing’s for sure, the winner of this fight will be the undisputed pound-for-pound king of boxing.”
Crawford, 35, was crowned the sport’s first fully unified 140-pound champion of the four-belt era when he knocked out Julius Indongo in the third round of their August 2017 bout at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Omaha native entered the ring that night with the WBC and WBO belts and won the IBF and WBA titles from Namibia’s Indongo, who was undefeated (22-0) when he encountered Crawford.
The 33-year-old Spence discredited Crawford’s win against Indongo during their press conference Wednesday, but Crawford clearly is the most accomplished opponent of the unbeaten IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion’s career. Crawford, who has held the WBO welterweight championship for five years, has won world titles in three weight classes and has occupied the top spot on numerous pound-for-pound lists at one time or another.
BoxingScene.com currently ranks Crawford third and Spence fourth on its pound-for-pound list, below top-ranked former undisputed bantamweight champ Naoya Inoue and second-ranked IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk.
ESPN.com has Crawford rated first and Spence fourth in its newest rankings, with Inoue (second) and Usyk (third) between them. Like BoxingScene.com, The Ring magazine has Crawford and Spence third and fourth, respectively, on its list, behind only Usyk (first) and Inoue (second).
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) is listed as a slight favorite by most sportsbooks to beat Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) in their highly anticipated Showtime Pay-Per-View main event.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.