While 2022 may be remembered as one of boxing's greatest years in decades in terms of the quality fights that were put on, it got better on Friday when unbeaten welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford agreed to terms for a unification bout on Nov. 19 in Las Vegas.
September 15, 2022 at 6:28 pm EDT
, holds the WBO welterweight title. He is 38-0 with 29 knockout. Spence, No. 5 in the Yahoo Sports rankings, is 28-0 with 22 knockouts and holds the IBF-WBA-WBC welterweight belts.This is the kind of fight that can help increase interest in boxing. The sport has been blessed in recent years with superb young talent, many of whom are blossoming now. But to build the sport and increase the fan base, it needs bouts like Spence-Crawford that reach across boundaries and can create new fans.
That show will get the mainstream following and buzz that most fights, even quality ones, don’t get today. And so it’s an opportunity to grow the fan base by filling the card not just with talented fighters, but with talented fighters in compelling bouts.Crawford-Spence: Right fight at the right time
Spence-Crawford is going to deliver. The early pick here is Crawford, as he’s more versatile and has more ways to win. I don’t discount Spence because he’s largely lived up to the hype that surrounded him not only coming out of the Olympics but then when he sparred in his early days as a pro with Floyd Mayweather Jr.