While Showtime’s Jim Gray poured cold water on a rematch, Crawford supported the idea. “The public would buy it,” insisted the new undisputed champ. “Look at how many people came out and showed me and Errol Spence support. If the fight happens again, I’m pretty sure everyone would come out and show support once again.”
Spence, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, was compared early in his professional career to the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard in terms of his ability to do everything in the ring. Spence is a southpaw and Leonard was orthodox, but Spence is a brilliant boxer who has a great chin, big pop in both hands and terrific lateral movement. He can fight well going forward and backward.
Crawford’s head trainer, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, banged the ring apron like a drum with both hands. Two men carried four belts and the white, satin-like bags they would soon be gently placed in. Once inside, all four would stay there until both undefeated champions and their teams carried them into the ring late Saturday.
Result: Macy Chiasson def. Pannie Kianzad via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3;54 Recap: Macy Chiasson repeats history, taps Pannie Kianzad in rematch Photos: UFC Fight Night 239: Best photos from Las Vegas Records: Chiasson 10-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), Kianzad (17-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) Division: Women’s bantamweight Broadcast: ESPN+ Referee: Mark Smith
While Crawford has talked up a potential clash with the Mexican as well as several other top names from different divisions, he is first focused on attempting to become a four-weight world champion in Los Angeles tonight.
Dogboe (23-2, 15 KOs) showed why he was a former junior featherweight champion. The Ghanaian pressed the action in the second half of the fight and pressed Diaz (26-4, 16 KOs), who hails from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. Between the fifth and the eighth rounds, Dogboe landed more than 50% of his power punches, according to CompuBox.
Canelo Alvarez (c) vs. John Ryder — Round 7: Ryder seemed to have fully recovered from the earlier trouble at the start of the round. Alvarez responded with jabs and straight right hand, though Ryder landed some more of his own shots. An Alvarez right hand glanced off Ryder’s temple and he wobbled briefly but remained upright. Alvarez continued to pop the bloody nose of Ryder with jabs and straight right hands. Ryder still landed a few good right hands. Alvarez landed another left to the body and Ryder’s body appeared to show some bruising from the shots. Unofficial scorecard: 10-9 Alvarez (70-62)
“Hell yeah we gotta do it again,” Spence said. “I’m going to be a lot better. It’s going to be a lot closer. It’s probably going to be in December before the end of the year. Hell yeah we gotta do it again. … Hopefully at 154.”
“We practice that,” said Crawford. “Normally in camp we do a flick and jab. But we knew that wasn’t going to work with Errol Spence because he’s durable, he’s strong. So, we had to practice a strong firm jab. The jab hit him and stopped him in his tracks.”
He said that last part with a laugh, but the implication was obvious. In Crawford’s mind, he’ll never receive proper credit. That burning desire to silence the naysayers — shared by Hagler and Hopkins — has helped lift Crawford to these heights. And as sure as there will be loud voices questioning him every step of the way, he’ll surely feed off that feeling of disrespect in his biggest test to date.
Round 3 – Good combo from Nunes early on here. She likely needs a finish. Leg kick by Chandler. Oh! Big left connects for Nunes! Chandler presses her against the cage, but Nunes breaks free. Right hook connects for Nunes. Three minutes left. Chandler presses Nunes against the cage. Nunes breaks free. Nunes is trying to land a big shot, but every time she closes the distance, Chandler backs up. Good right hand by Nunes! Another one. One minute left. Oh! Huge left by Nunes. The bell rings.
Prior to becoming undisputed at welterweight, Crawford was undisputed at super-lightweight and held a world title at lightweight. Saturday (3 August) saw him move up to a career-highest weight at 154lb, and another upwards move to meet Canelo could prove difficult.
9:40 p.m. ET: We finally got some action and this very slow-paced fight as Melikuziev rocks Rosado in the fifth and seems to be picking up the pace. Rosado has been stuck in neutral the entire fight and will need a knockout if he hopes to win. It’s just not a great fight.
Round 3 – Anheliger comes out pressuring with strikes. Good combo by Anheliger! Body shots by Anheliger. Grigoriou is just standing there. A clash of heads stops the fight. Grigoriou doesn’t seem OK. After a minute, the fight resumes. Leg kick by Anheliger. Jabs by Anheliger. He’s outworking Grigoriou right now. Oh! Big right hand from Anheliger wobbles Grigoriou. Two minutes left. Anheliger is picking apart Grigoriou, who won the terence crawford fight tonight’s exhausted. Leg kick from Anheliger. Clean combos by Anheliger. He’s just having his way. There’s no offense coming from Grigoriou. The bell rings.