With Vasyl Lomachenko bumped off from the top of the food chain, only two fighters can lay claim to being the sport’s No. 1 pound- for- pound fighter.
Saul Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
Alvarez has recently been released from his promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions and so we probably will see him on top of the ring in the first quarter of 2021, at the earliest.
That gives “Bud” Crawford the perfect opportunity to ascend as he is fighting this weekend against England’s Kell Brook.
BUD. Undefeated in 36 fights with 27 knockouts, Crawford has long craved the recognition he feels he so richly deserves. But there is a prerequisite in boxing before fighters can ascend to its apex: a super-fight.
A super-fight which Crawford sorely lacks on his splendid resume. After moving up to the welterweight division and defeating Jeff Horn, Crawford had sought fights with the best fighters in the 147 lb. weight class, namely Shawn Porter and Errol Spence.
But the aforementioned two decided to fight each other, which was just fine because Crawford could then just face the winner. But two weeks after defeating Porter, Spence figured in a horrible car accident which sidelined him for a couple of months.
Then Covid-19 happened. Which leads us to the fight.
BROOK. Kell Brook (39-2, 27 KOs) is no pushover. After devastating stoppage losses to Gennady Golovkin and Spence, he is now coming off a three-fight win streak.
A talented boxer-counterpuncher, Brook was thought to be undermatched when he moved up to middleweight to fight the bigger, stronger Golovkin who was still in his absolute prime in 2016.
He acquitted himself quite well for the first half of the fight but suffered a broken orbital bone which led to the stoppage.
He re-aggravated that injury during the Spence loss which had been a very competitive fight.
Two losses against some of the very best the sport can offer is no crying shame and so you see, Brook is a very live underdog in this fight.
In this Sunday’s column, check out our three possible scenarios for this compelling battle.
BUMMER. As a continuing reminder that the pandemic is not yet over despite our efforts at returning to normalcy, the much-anticipated matchup between Ryan Garcia and Luke Campbell penciled on Dec. 5, has been postponed as the latter tested positive for Covid-19.
Garcia is one of the sport’s rising superstars and will most likely be one of Golden Boy Promotions’ marquee fighters with Alvarez gone. Campbell is coming off a loss to Lomachenko while Garcia who has a huge social media presence, knocked out Francisco Fonseca in his last fight with a single left hook in the first round.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Atty. Erwin Rommel “Heyboy” Heyrosa, who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!