Crawford Wins The WBA Boxer Of The Month, Tim Bradley Reacts

Terence Crawford, the new undisputed welterweight champion, has been given the ‘WBA Boxer of the Month’ award following his win over Errol Spence Jr. 

‘Bud’ created history by becoming the first undisputed welterweight champion of the four-belt era by stopping Spence in the ninth-round.

The manner of the win was all the more impressive, given that Crawford dropped Spence three times before the stoppage in a fight where Spence offered little. 

As a result, Crawford became undisputed in a second weight class following his achievements at 140. And now the undisputed champion at junior middleweight, Jermell Charlo, is firmly in his grasp. 

“Like I said, you know, I’m in the hurt business. [Making] ’47 was kinda hard for me, too. I was already talkin’ about moving up in weight and challenging [Jermell] Charlo. So, ’54 wouldn’t be out [of] reach of anything,” Crawford stated

Crawford’s record moved to 40 wins and 31 by way of knockout as he outlined his future.  In the aftermath of the win, Crawford had this to say. 

Crawford’s Legacy

“The winner of this fight was going to be No 1, pound for pound, hands down. You’ve got Errol Spence, who was ranked No 4, and you got Terence Crawford, who was ranked No 1 [on many lists].

“You’ve got two fighters that are in the top five of the pound-for-pound ratings. How can [the winner] not be No 1,” Crawford

Nevertheless, a rematch with Spence could follow. The former expressed his desire to have a second crack at 154, which Crawford has not ruled out.

Regardless of whether the rematch goes ahead, the chances of Spence pulling off a win are slim, given Crawford’s own admission that making 147 was ‘tight.’ 

So moving forward, Crawford could realistically become a three-time undisputed champion if he overcomes Jermell Charlo. The latter will face Canelo Alvarez on September 30th, 2023, at 168 lbs as he jumps up two-weight classes. 

And with Canelo being a favorite, it would be a tall order for Charlo to move back down to 154 and face Crawford if he were to lose to the Mexican. With that being said, Crawford is the man of the moment.

Bradley Reacts

Tim Bradley has given his take on Crawford’s victory over Spence. Three knockdowns and a bloody-faced Spence summed up a performance that showed Crawford’s superiority.

Prior to the fight, Bradley backed Bud to come out victorious. In the aftermath, Bradley hit out at his critics for questioning his decision to back ‘Bud.’

But now that it has happened, Bradley outlined how Crawford took away Spence’s jab. 

“I would say that Crawford had a hell of a tremendous game plan. His game plan was fantastic. Crawford made this fight look so easy, and how he was able to do it was he took Spence’s best weapon away from him. He took his Jab away,” Crawford

And with the jab out of the way, which was Spence’s biggest weapon, Bud’s mindset was to punish Spence.

Bud spoke in the post-fight presser over how he had been blackballed into not getting the Spence fight, as the latter ultimately paid the price for that criticism. 

“They tried to blackball me, they kept me out, they kept me out. They talked bad about me, they said I wasn’t good enough, that I couldn’t beat these top welterweights, and I just kept my head to the sky and I kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world who Terence Crawford is,” Crawford revealed

With that being said, Bradley suggested that Bud could have stopped Spence earlier, especially since he had knocked him down in the second round.

“Crawford took it pretty easy on him. He took his time. He wanted to punish Spence. That’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to punish his [Spence] fans. All the stuff that everybody talked about him in the past that he was running from Spence. He took that out on Spence.

“He took his time because he probably could have ended this fight in the second or third round. He could have ended this match quickly, but he was like, ‘Nah, I’m going to keep softening him up, I’m going to keep bruising him up, and I’m going to show everybody that I’m the complete package, that I’m the best fighter in the world,” Bradley stated 

Bud goes down as one of the all-time greats that ever graced the sport of boxing. And it is only a matter of time before he enters into the ‘Boxing Hall of Fame’ once he leaves the sport. 

So the only question remaining to ask is how far can Crawford go now? And at the age of 36, there is not a lot of time left to find out.

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