CRAWFORD IS TOO GOOD

Hey Dougie,

Haven’t written you in a while. This has been a great year for the sport, and it keeps getting better, money grabs aside. I told you a while back that I was actually one of those guys that got roped into boxing when MayPac happened but even though it was a let down, so much happened over the years that I knew it was a matter of time before I get to see some action, and in the meanwhile I got introduced to guys like GGG, Canelo, Krusher, Ward, AJ, and Crawford. This money grab is not a competitive fight, but it shines a light on the sport and fans will be made for both boxing and the UFC.

Moving on, if there is one fighter that does not get the respect he deserves I think it is definitely Terence Crawford. Other guys like GGG have been dismissed as well, but maybe because they are in a heavier weight class I feel they still have much more of a following and cult of respect. Crawford has blown past everyone in his division, and has now made history as the first undisputed champ and the latest person to unify all the belts, but everyone will say Julius Indongo was a mirage, and not as good as advertised, but I think that Crawford is just on another level. We will only see him challenged if he moves up in weight.

My question to you Douggers is what he has left at junior welterweight, if anything, and who does he move up against? I want to see him with a limited big name (Al has been ok with sending these kinds of guys before), maybe Broner, maybe Garcia maybe even Porter when he is back from his injury. Then I want to see if Bob can play nice with Al and put a champ in with this beast. I think the size will be a factor, but I think based on what we’ve seen, Crawford is the real deal.

MM at junior welterweight:

Crawford v Kostya Tszyu

Crawford v JMM

Crawford v All 3 Sugars

Cheers Doug, hope you enjoyed your break last week. – Shawar

I had a good time with my wife on Catalina Island but I’m glad to be back on the editorial grind and excited to be going into what will be several weeks of bigtime boxing events (and, yes, that includes the “fake fight” in Vegas this Saturday).

Those are interesting mythical 140-pound matchups involving the Pride of Omaha:

Crawford v Kostya Tszyu – King Kostya by close, maybe controversial decision, in an intensely competitive, mostly entertaining (along with some rough stuff – by Kostya – tossed in) boxing match.

Crawford v JMM – Crawford by competitive but clear UD. Bud is all wrong – in terms of style and size – for Marquez.

Crawford v All 3 Sugars – Robinson by mid-to-late stoppage, Leonard by UD in a good scrap, while Mosley holds him to a draw in a Fight of the Year throwdown. 

My question to you Douggers is what (Crawford) has left at junior welterweight, if anything, and who does he move up against? I think Mikey Garcia is the only notable junior welterweight left for Crawford and he’s not even a real 140 pounder. I would strongly favor Crawford in that matchup, but if it the many promotional/political hurdles can be worked out and the fight is made, I would watch with interest as I’m sure all hardcore fans would (and maybe even some casuals if the event were promoted right). So, if Bud can’t get his old amateur rival and former promotional/managerial stablemate into the ring, I think his best bet is to head to 147 pounds. 

I want to see him with a limited big name (Al has been ok with sending these kinds of guys before), maybe Broner, maybe Garcia maybe even Porter when he is back from his injury. Garcia and Shawn Porter are fights I’m interested in seeing (especially Crawford-Porter at welterweight). Broner? Hell no. What the hell has he done – apart from struggling with gatekeepers and getting outclassed by Garcia – to deserve a high-profile showdown with the undisputed junior welterweight champ?

Then I want to see if Bob can play nice with Al and put a champ in with this beast. Don’t hold your breath, but feel free to keep hope alive.

I think the size will be a factor, but I think based on what we’ve seen, Crawford is the real deal. He sure looks like it, but we won’t know for sure until we see him match skill and will against a legitimate 147-pound contender or titleholder.

Crawford has blown past everyone in his division, and has now made history as the first undisputed champ and the latest person to unify all the belts, but everyone will say Julius Indongo was a mirage, and not as good as advertised, but I think that Crawford is just on another level. I agree with you. Crawford is an elite-level boxer, a consensus top-five pound-for-pound player. I thought Indongo would be more of a challenge, but he wasn’t even able to get started against Crawford. But that’s because Bud is THAT much of a badass! It’s not because Indongo is some kind of a fake. He was a two-belt titleholder and legit top-five 140-pound contender. The Namibian simply isn’t elite. No shame in that. I think he can still be a junior welterweight player.

I was actually one of those guys that got roped into boxing when MayPac happened but even though it was a let down, so much happened over the years that I knew it was a matter of time before I get to see some action, and in the meanwhile I got introduced to guys like GGG, Canelo, Krusher, Ward, AJ, and Crawford. Thank you for being patient; I’m glad it’s finally paying off.

This money grab is not a competitive fight, but it shines a light on the sport and fans will be made for both boxing and the UFC. I hope you are right.

“10 STONE” BUD

Dear Mr. Fischer,

Terence Crawford did an impeccable job blowing out Julius Indongo with that liver shot. This is the best we’ve seen of Bud, from my perspective, and he does not appear to have many (if any) holes in his craft. He’s a phenomenal boxer, and well deserving of all the accolades that I’m sure will come his way in aftermath of the math. Do you see a move to 147 in his near future? Is there anyone left at 10 stone he should face before he moves up? How do you think he would do against a prime Kostya Tszyu?

I’m a big fan of unification fights and don’t believe there is a higher accolade in boxing than being the undisputed champion of a division. For my money Bud’s accomplishment Saturday ranks higher than what Andre Ward managed when he was at Super Middleweight.

The Super Six was a great event, and matched most of the biggest names in the division at that point, but it must be said that the greatest fighter in that division’s short history had just left for greener pastures. After Ward has gone on to bigger stages and more impressive wins, but there’s something to be said about cleaning out a division.

How do you rate Bud’s accomplishment? Would you advise against hyperbole considering the opposition he faced and how easily he claimed each and all the belts?

Thanks again for all your great work. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your vacation and that you and your family are able to return earlier than you expect, even if it means another Montero Mailbag. I send the best. Very Respectfully. – John

Thanks for the kind words and wishes, John. Wifey and I left the kids at home to ensure that we enjoyed our time off (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). We already had a family vacation in July, and like most, it was mostly fun, but anything but restful.

Terence Crawford shows off his belt collection. Photo by Mikey Williams / Top Rank

How do I rate Bud’s accomplishment? Well, I agree that it was his best (or most dominating) performance so far and the biggest accomplishment of his still-developing pro career. Unifying all the major titles (including THE RING belt) is very hard to do in this fractured, safety first era of boxing, so kudos to Crawford, Indongo, Top Rank and Matchroom Boxing for coming together to give the sport an undisputed champ. However, I’m not ready to compare Crawford to Aaron Pryor, Julio Cesar Chavez, or even King Kostya. Outclassing the likes of Viktor Postol and Indongo is nothing to scoff at, but it doesn’t place the Nebraska native on the level of the best 140-pound champs of the past 25-35 years.

Terence Crawford did an impeccable job blowing out Julius Indongo with that liver shot. It was nasty, and almost reminiscent of the liver shot Bernard Hopkins delivered to Oscar De La Hoya to unify all four sanctioning organization middleweight belts (along with THE RING title) in 2004.

This is the best we’ve seen of Bud, from my perspective, and he does not appear to have many (if any) holes in his craft. I don’t see any flaws in Bud, but he damn sure can see all of the holes in his opponents’ craft.

Do you see a move to 147 in his near future? Yep, the word from Bob Arum is that he’ll be ringside for the proposed Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao rematch, and he could be in line to face Horn if the Australian Cinderella Man repeats against the Filipino legend. That’s not a great fight, but it’s a decent start at welterweight.

Is there anyone left at 10 stone he should face before he moves up? Garcia is the only name I can think of at junior welter for Bud. Take a gander at THE RING’s 140-pound rankings. Do you see anybody that you’d really want to see Crawford defend his titles against? I don’t. I think highly of Antonio Orozco and Regis Prograis, but neither young gun is ready for Bud. I’d rather see them fight each other and the winner of that fight take on the winner of another matchup of young contenders (maybe Sergey Lipinets and Josh Taylor). The winner of THAT matchup would be worthy of Crawford if he were still around at 140 pounds.

How do you think he would do against a prime Kostya Tszyu? I think he would more than hold his own.

I’m a big fan of unification fights and don’t believe there is a higher accolade in boxing than being the undisputed champion of a division. For my money Bud’s accomplishment Saturday ranks higher than what Andre Ward managed when he was at Super Middleweight. I don’t know if I agree with that. While I think earning undisputed champion status is very special, and definitely an accomplishment that enhances a fighter’s legacy, I think the fighters that Ward beat to unify two major 168-pound titles (Mikkel Kessler and Carl Froch), earn THE RING super middleweight championship, and ultimately win the Super Six tournament were more respected and battle tested than the two fighters (Postol and Indongo) that Crawford beat to unify all the titles at 140.

CRAWFORD VS. SPENCE

That would be a hell of a fight.

Crawford is clearly elite, so sharp, so smart and he wants to get you out of there.

Him competing at 147 has me excited. Thurman, Spence, Garcia those are fights I’m dying to see.

Specifically Spence/Crawford.

But first give me Crawford/Broner at 147 as a tune-up. I love watching Broner get f__ked up. I’m certain he’d chop Broner down and stop him as an acclimation fight at 147. I’m not at all saying Broner deserves it or has any chance to win, I just want to see Broner get beat down and KTFO. Yes, Broner, you can have my money, I’m happy to pay you to take ass whipings.

Thank you. – Jason C. Brown

Aw, come on, JCB, don’t kick a man when he’s down. Geez! I thought you were a B-Hop fan. I never figured you to be a Blood-Thirsty Ghoul.

(Then again, our man Bernard Hopkins always did have a sadistic streak – remember that gruesome beating he put on poor William Joppy in 2003, when he bet the former titleholder $50,000 that Joppy couldn’t last the distance with him? Joppy lasted the distance – and kept his “hood cred,” as B-Hop said afterward – but his head was so swollen and lumped up that he looked like Martin after the sitcom character sparred an exhibition with Tommy Hearns.)

Crawford is clearly elite, so sharp, so smart and he wants to get you out of there. True, and he’s from the Midwest, so what isn’t there to like?

Him competing at 147 has me excited. Thurman, Spence, Garcia those are fights I’m dying to see. Me too, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet. Arum and Haymon are not exactly beholden to the sanctity of the sport. They only do what’s in their best business interests. (Down with Harvard law school and business school grads in boxing!) But who knows? If Crawford can keep winning, and looking awesome on ESPN once he moves to welterweight – and if Al can get his two major beltholders (Thurman and Spence) to continue to raise their profiles with significant bouts, ideally a unification fight between them – perhaps there will be enough public interest and money on the table for Arum and Haymon to do business in the 147-pound division.

Specifically, Spence/Crawford. Yeah, that’s the welterweight wet dream for hardcore boxing nuts. I think I slightly favor Crawford at this juncture, but this is the type of matchup where I’d go back and forth on who has the winning edge.

A SHORT & SWEET MAYMAC QUESTION

Hi Doug,

Always a pleasure listening to your views and opinions, especially when it’s my issues you`re talking about!

Anyway, this one is short and sweet.

IF Conor manages to defeat Mayweather…..Does he become ranked…by anybody?? Weather it’s a sanctioning body or P4P list?

We were talking about this in the pub with other boxing heads and couldn’t come up with an answer we all agreed on.

Some said straight into P4P contention…others said not.

What do you think?? Regards. – Wayne, Dublin

I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I would not consider McGregor a pound-for-pound player if he somehow landed a Hail Mary upside Mayweather’s sweet spot. Mayweather has been retired since September 2015, thus is currently unrated – in all credible divisional AND mythical rankings.

However, despite the fact that Mayweather is 40 and has been out of the ring for almost two years, he’s still an unbeaten five-division titleholder, a former pound-for-pound king and future first-ballot hall of famer who retired on top of the sport. So beating him is still a huge deal – especially for a guy making his pro boxing debut.

The fight takes place at junior middleweight. When I look at who THE RING ranks in its 154-pound top 10, I see more than a few contenders – including IBF titleholder Jarrett Hurd, former WBO beltholder Liam Smith, THE RING’s 2016 Prospect of the Year Erickson Lubin, No. 9-rated Brian Castano and No.10-rated Michel Soro – who haven’t come close to achieving as much as McGregor would if he were to upset Mayweather. Mind you, if McGregor were to fight any of these guys, I’d HEAVILY favor the current RING-rated junior middles to stomp a giant mudhole in his ass. But, hypothetically speaking, if Conor were to beat Floyd at 154 pounds, he will have accomplished more than they have (so far). I could see him being ranked as high as No. 5 or No. 6.

However, the pound-for-pound rankings is different. Even the No. 10-rated P4P Player – which will probably be “The Monster,” Naoya Inoue, now that his countryman Shinsuke Yamanaka has been upset – has accomplished a lot. I wouldn’t consider clipping an inactive 40-year-old Mayweather to be more than winning major titles at 108 and 115 pounds in one’s sixth and eighth pro bouts and dominating several contenders within 13 pro bouts.

SORRY… THAT “OTHER EVENT”

Dougie,

I’m a life-long aficionado of the sport, long-time reader of The Ring (and still get it in print!), and a big fan of yours going back to the maxboxing.com days.

I know this “other event” is something that you have no interest in covering, but with the fight so close, I hope you’ll give it a bit of attention.

I must admit, I’m a bit disappointed and confused by the snobbish contempt traditional boxing media has for the upcoming Mayweather-McGregor fight. Of course it’s a complete mismatch and mostly a spectacle orchestrated to make obscene amounts of money for the principles involved.

But we all know how widely popular MMA is now, and McGregor is not only an accomplished champion in that sport but its biggest start with massive crossover appeal in the broader culture. And if he has the stones to step out of his combat sport discipline and into the ring with the man who has been the best boxer of his generation–and most important, lots of people would like to watch this fight–then why shouldn’t that bout get made? And why should we “traditionalists” be such snobs and downers about it? Don’t we always complain about fighters and promoters who find a reason to avoid risk and not give the people what they want?

From my perspective–someone who doesn’t really watch MMA and is about as traditional of a “fight fan” as they come–I’m frankly looking forward to seeing Floyd’s incredible boxing skills and smarts on display one last time, even if it’s to give a beatdown to a game but over-matched champion from another combat discipline. Am I looking forward to it as much as GGG vs. Canelo? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean that we all can’t have a little fun with this fight.

I guess that’s my point: fun. The way many traditional fans and the boxing media have looked down their noses at anyone interested in this fight (with a contempt that you can practically taste) instead of just enjoying it for what it is, reinforces the stereotypes that I think turn a lot of general sports fans off about boxing. If you can’t name the top 5 junior welterweight contenders, don’t have a solid opinion who would win in a theoretical bout between Henry Armstrong and Roberto Duran, or understand Harold Lederman’s interpretation of ring generalship, well…you must not be a true fan.

In short, we just need to lighten up a little and support ways to make this beautiful–but tough to get into–sport more welcoming and inclusive to general sports fans. Dude, this is supposed to be fun! Let’s not take ourselves too seriously.

Sorry, that turned into more of rant than I intended. Love your work. Keep it up.  Best. – Anthony

Thank for the kind words, Anthony.

I think most boxing fans feel that the best way “to make this beautiful – but tough to get into – sport more welcoming and inclusive to general sports fans” is for boxing’s top contenders and titleholders to face each other in entertaining fights, and, for the most part, that’s exactly what the sport has delivered in 2017.

There have been so many significant matchups between world-class boxers this year that even hardcore fans have forgotten about title unification bouts at super middleweight (DeGale-Jack in January) and welterweight (Thurman-Garcia in March). They’ve forgotten about Leo Santa Cruz’s impressive (and surprising) rematch victory over THE RING’s 2016 Fighter of the Year Carl Frampton. And the reason is because the sport continued to deliver the fights they wanted to see, some of which were epic and dramatic passing-of-the-torch encounters, such as Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko and Errol Spence Jr.-Kell Brook. We’ve seen so many sensational performances, such as Mikey Garcia’s near-shutout of Adrien Broner and Crawford’s blowout of Indongo, that other standout showings this year – such as Miguel Berchelt’s bloody, brutal title-winning effort against brave Francisco Vargas or Garcia and David Lemieux’s chilling KO of the Year candidate stoppages of Dejan Zlaticanin and Curtis Stevens – have been pushed aside in our memories.

What I’m trying to say here is that there is so much GOOD stuff going on within the real world of professional boxing that hardcore heads don’t have the time or patience for a WWE-style business transaction between the biggest egos of boxing and MMA. We’ve got the World Boxing Super Series about to jump off, we’ve got Top Rank bringing a household name (Pacquiao) and two elite level boxers in their primes (Crawford and Lomachenko) to ESPN, we’ve got Golden Boy delivering up-and-comers in solid matchups on ESPN, we’ve got the stacked “SuperFly” card coming up, we’re less than 30 days from Canelo-Golovkin; hell, it even looks like Mr. Avoided & Persecuted himself, Guillermo Rigondeaux, is finally going to get a shot stardom with a proposed December showdown with Lomachenko.

I’m sorry, bro, but there are too many good things going on for me – and many other diehard boxing fans – to give a s__t about an overhyped mismatch.

Now, having said that, I do think hardcore fans could lighten up a bit. Mayweather-McGregor is not the end of the world. Personally, I don’t think it’s going to hurt the sport at all, and I have no problem with anyone “having fun” like you and enjoying the spectacle of the high-profile boxing-UFC collaboration. However, you can’t expect me to advocate this f__king garbage. I think the Mayweather-McGregor matchup is absolute bulls__t, Anthony. Apart from that opinion, keep in mind that I’m not an MMA or McGregor fan and I don’t appreciate Mayweather or his boxing style the way you do, so you can’t expect me to be excited about it.

I know this “other event” is something that you have no interest in covering, but with the fight so close, I hope you’ll give it a bit of attention. There will be plenty of Mayweather-McGregor coverage – both written and video – on RingTV.com this week. You’ll be glad to know that our senior writer Mike Coppinger will join regular contributor Andreas Hale in Las Vegas to provide you and other fans interested in MayMac all the latest news on the event. But there will also be a lot of RingTV.com coverage on the Miguel Cotto-Yoshihiro Kamegai/Rey Vargas-Ronny Rios (and the undercard) this week.  

I must admit, I’m a bit disappointed and confused by the snobbish contempt traditional boxing media has for the upcoming Mayweather-McGregor fight. I don’t get all the angst and disgust either but I’m not surprised by it. A lot of media folks (traditional, main stream, amateur or otherwise) are that way about EVERY major boxing event. Boxing media and fans like to bitch and moan in general. There’s a lot of depressed people in the world. What are you gonna do? I just call them mopes and move on.

Of course it’s a complete mismatch and mostly a spectacle orchestrated to make obscene amounts of money for the principles involved. Um, yeah, so are you really surprised that people are pissing on it? Why should anyone celebrate what you just described?

But we all know how widely popular MMA is now, and McGregor is not only an accomplished champion in that sport but its biggest start with massive crossover appeal in the broader culture. And if he has the stones to step out of his combat sport discipline and into the ring with the man who has been the best boxer of his generation–and most important, lots of people would like to watch this fight–then why shouldn’t that bout get made? You sound like a bit McGregor and Mayweather fan, so it makes sense that you see some kind of meaning (beyond Conor and Floyd wanting to make a s__t-ton of money) in the matchup. But you have to understand that both guys are the polarizing type of popular, so just as many people hate them as adore them, and sometimes when you bring two a__holes together it turns people off.

And why should we “traditionalists” be such snobs and downers about it? Because that’s exactly what many of us are, just like Conor and Floyd are a__holes.

Don’t we always complain about fighters and promoters who find a reason to avoid risk and not give the people what they want? Yeah, but that’s not happening as much this year.

From my perspective–someone who doesn’t really watch MMA and is about as traditional of a “fight fan” as they come–I’m frankly looking forward to seeing Floyd’s incredible boxing skills and smarts on display one last time, even if it’s to give a beatdown to a game but over-matched champion from another combat discipline. Reading that paragraph makes me puke a little bit inside my mouth.

Am I looking forward to it as much as GGG vs. Canelo? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean that we all can’t have a little fun with this fight. Hey, knock yourself out. Me? I’m going to be experiencing StubHub magic the night of Aug. 26.

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @dougiefischer and on Periscope: