Terence Crawford Becomes Undisputed Welterweight Champion
July 2022 - In a fight that exceeded all expectations, Terence Crawford emerged as the victor in a stunningly one-sided fashion against Errol Spence, the reigning WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight champion. The match, which took place last July, saw Crawford dominate his opponent, leaving Spence almost literally beaten to a pulp.
Crawford, the WBO welterweight champion with an impeccable record of 39-0, delivered a crowning performance that had been years in the making. Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the newly crowned undisputed welterweight champion expressed his dedication and hard work. "I worked my ass off to get to where I am today," said Crawford.
Those words can apply today as well as they did that evening last summer, for Crawford is now Boxing Insider’s 2023 Fighter Of The Year, an honor he “worked his ass off” for. The truth is that Crawford had some tough competition in the lead up to being crowned 2023’s best, that competition coming in the form of a certain undisputed junior featherweight world champion by the name of Naoya Inoue. Make no mistake about it, choosing between Nebraska’s Crawford and Japan’s Inoue was no easy task. Both men, after all, devastated the competition this past year, Crawford by crushing Spence, and Inoue by demolishing both Marlon Tapales and Stephen Fulton, top competitors both.
What allowed Crawford to earn the top spot, however, was the magnitude of his victory over Spence, as well as those naysayers who claimed he wouldn’t earn it. Nayoa won his second undisputed world championship this past year (that’s right, the guy has actually succeeded at the monumental task of earning two), but his dominance has rarely, if ever, been in question. The winner of the long awaited Crawford-Spence match, however, was never clear…as least not until Crawford fully took over after dropping Spence in the second. By the time the bout was halted in the ninth, the outcome of the fight had morphed from a question mark into a forgone conclusion.
Now there’s no one around to deny that Spence is one of the all time greats in an all time great division (oh, there’s always going to be someone out there denying the greatness of another, but Crawford’s bona fides are now no longer in doubt). There have been some great names at welterweight: Robinson, Leonard, Hears, Mayweather, and Pacquiao to name but a few. And now the name of Crawford is on that list. Esteemed company to be sure. And reason enough for Crawford to be crowned 2023’s Fighter Of The Year.
