Terence Crawford will defend his WBO welterweight championship against European champion David Avanesyan this weekend. Usually, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world returning would be a cause for celebration. But Crawford’s comeback is tainted by the fact it does not arrive against Errol Spence Jr.
It might seem like typical sporting pessimism to talk about what something isn’t rather than what it is. Lionel Messi has never won the World Cup, but that does not preclude him from being one of the finest players ever to step on the field. But Crawford vs Spence just felt too perfect not to stage. It also got far too tantalisingly close for its collapse not to cast a shadow over what has followed.
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David Avanesyan is a worthy title challenger. The Russian is on a run of six stoppage victories, with only one of those fights even reaching the second half. He has fought for world gold before, losing to then-WBA king Lamont Peterson via unanimous decision in 2017. But the Russian is hitting form at the right time. There really is no issue with giving someone like ‘Ava’ a shot. He just isn’t Errol Spence.
Crawford is the WBO champion while Spence reigns as the WBA, IBF and WBC king. The two world-leading welters hold a combined record of 66-0. They have beaten 16 world champions between them. They are, to put it simply, the biggest welterweight stars since Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao left the professional ring.
Mayweather and Pacquiao know all about leaving a blockbuster fight too late. It took years to put ‘Money’ and ‘Pacman’ in the squared circle at the same time. When they did finally fight, the gloss had dulled slightly. Pacquiao had been controversially outpointed by Timothy Bradley and knocked out cold by Juan Manuel Marquez by the time the Mayweather superfight happened. The longer the 36-year-old Crawford and 32-year-old Spence leave it, the more chance something will happen to take the shine off what is arguably the best fight in boxing.
Will Avanesyan be the Bradley/Marquez figure who upsets the applecart? In all likelihood he will not. He packs a wallop, as evidenced by his recent KO streak. But he does not have the skills to outbox someone with the master’s degree in fistic arts that Crawford possesses. This gap in levels seems to be the main reason why this fight seems like scant consolation for the Crawford vs Spence fight we were assured by both fighters we would be getting.
While Avanesyan is unlikely to block the welterweight dream fight, what happens to Crawford is only one half of the story. The WBC have ordered Spence to defend their title against Keith Thurman. While Spence is free to refuse, he would sacrifice one of his titles if he did so.
Thurman would present a clear and present danger to Crawford vs Spence. The 30-1 former unified world champion returned this year for the first time since a 2019 defeat to Pacquiao. Having blown off the ring rust with a unanimous decision win over Mario Barrios, ‘One Time’ is a threat to the top welterweights once more. Spence would go into a bout with Thurman as the favourite, but a victory over the 34-year-old would arguably be the best of his career thus far.
It is to be hoped both men can come through the tests that await them. 2022 has seen too many big potential fights all by the wayside. In the case of Crawford vs Spence, there really is no better time than now for them to square off. They likely won’t be unbeaten forever, they certainly won’t be this young forever. Whatever derailed the negotiations last time needs to be firmly ironed out as a matter of urgency. They can settle any remaining disagreements in the ring.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
