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Errol Spence Jr. is Back, and His Priority Should Be Terence Crawford

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Perhaps the most prescient point made by analyst Lennox Lewis during Saturday night’s pay-per-view telecast of unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.’s comeback victory over two-division former titlist Danny Garcia had nothing to do with either of the main event participants. But in a way, it did.

Now 55 and retired for these past 17½ years, Lewis, the two-time heavyweight champion and 2009 inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, still is in a snit that as a pro he never got a chance to reprise his stoppage of Riddick Bowe in their gold medal super heavyweight bout of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Nor is Lewis, who blames that glaringly blank space on his resume to Bowe and his manager, Rock Newman, alone in decrying a woulda, coulda, shoulda megafight that never advanced beyond the theoretical.

Lewis and his fellow commentators for the Premier Boxing Champions/Fox Sports PPV showdown at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, were in agreement that Spence, who had not fought since being involved in a potentially fatal car crash on October 10, 2019, if not completely back to his previous elite level, was at least mostly so.

“Errol Spence has been consistent, and persistent, with his punches,” Lewis correctly assessed after the unified IBF and WBC welterweight champion registered a clear-cut, unanimous decision over the well-regarded challenger.

“He just looked physically, mentally, like the same champion he was 15 months ago,” said Brian Kenny.

And this, from Joe Goossen: “Errol Spence has been a machine against a really, really good counterpuncher – a smart, high-IQ fighter in Danny Garcia. He’s really taken away all of his best tools from Garcia with his pressure, his relentlessness and his combination punching. Errol Spence is back.”

Ah, but back to what? Another conga line of expected victories against very good-to-excellent fighters, such as Garcia, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Lamont Peterson and Kell Brook? Or to the kind of Armageddon brawl for it all that happens all too seldom in boxing, where petty squabbles and an aversion to risk-taking can keep the most alluring of matchups forever on the drawing board?

In a very real sense, the most important figure for Spence’s ascertainment of proof that he is still the best (or maybe second best) 147-pound fighter on the planet is WBO welterweight king Terence “Bud” Crawford, the figurative Bowe to Spence’s Lewis, or maybe the other way around. A pairing of Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) and Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) could be an updated version of the early 1980s first clashes of Sugar Ray Leonard with Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran, which would be the kind of adrenaline jolt that the fight game periodically requires for maximum revitalization. It also could be a relative letdown, as was the case when Oscar De La Hoya and Felix Trinidad squared off in 1999 in a unification showdown that promised so much but delivered something less. But, hey, one never knows until the posturing ends and the punching begins.

With the possible exception of middleweight/super middleweight straddler Canelo Alvarez, a majority of the No. 1 designations atop those pound-for-pound lists everyone is so hot to put together go to Crawford, who obviously has ample support as the finest 147-pound fighter on the planet. Spence, on the other hand, was and is a top five P4P type who is rated as the division’s best by The Ring magazine, just ahead of Crawford. Along with a full unification heavyweight showdown of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, Spence-Crawford is a guaranteed blockbuster that would harken back to that glorious heyday of the ’80s when certain fight nights captivated global interest.

The primary roadblock thus far to getting Spence and Crawford inside the ropes together has been the intransigence of Top Rank founder Bob Arum, who is aligned with ESPN and holds paper on Crawford, and Al Haymon, under whose PBC banner Spence toils. But the growing rift between Arum and Crawford suggests movement toward some sort of resolution.

Following Crawford’s relatively routine dismissal of Kell Brook via fourth-round TKO on November 14 in the Bubble at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand, Arum ripped into his fighter with words that stung Crawford more than Brooks’ punches had.

“He’s got to promote like (Teofimo) Lopez does,” Arum, whose contract with Crawford extends for two more bouts. “He’s got to promote like Shakur (Stevenson) does. Like (Floyd) Mayweather did. Like (Manny) Pacquiao did. If he doesn’t, who the f— needs him? He may be the greatest fighter in the word, but, hey, I ain’t going bankrupt promoting him … I’m no longer in the business of losing money on Terence Crawford.”

A miffed Crawford fired back at Arum, saying, “If he feels that way, he can release me now. You don’t have to wait until after a Spence fight. Release me now and you don’t have to lose any money if I am such a loss, a headache.”

Spence had too much respect for the gallant but not-quite-good-enough Garcia (36-3, 21 KOs) to ruminate about the 800-pound elephant in AT&T Stadium, namely the continuing specter of Crawford. The native of DeSoto, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, recently purchased a ranch and Spence figures he owes himself another half-year-or-so break from the ring wars so that he can mosey on over to his new spread and tend to his livestock.

“Be patient with me,” he advised fans during a post-fight interview. “I had to shake off a few cobwebs. This was a comeback fight for me, but I’ll definitely be 120% come my next fight.

“I’m gonna chill on my ranch. I have a couple of horses. I’m gonna get some more horses, get some chickens, some more cows. I need to rest a little bit.”

The bickering between Arum and Crawford aside, the likelihood is that Crawford is too valuable a TR asset to simply be cut loose before the end of his servitude. If Spence-Crawford is to happen, it may be 2022 or even later, if at all. Considering that Crawford is now 33 and Spence 30, indefinitely keeping something that seems so inevitable on the back burner could carry it past its optimal expiration date or, worse, into the perpetual limbo into which Lewis-Bowe (or Bowe-Mike Tyson, for that matter) was consigned. That would not only be a disservice to fight fans, but a dark spot on the legacies of Hall of Fame-quality fighters who should loudly demand that they settle, once and for all, who really is the contemporary king of the welterweight hill.

There is a familiar proverb, “He who hesitates is lost,” generally attributed to 18th century British essayist and poet Joseph Addison. It seems as true now as it did three centuries ago.

Photo credit: Frank Micelotta / FOX Sports

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

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In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.

The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.

But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.

Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.

Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.

As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

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In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

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Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.

Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.

In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.

Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.

Semi-Wind-Up

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.

Other Bouts of Note

In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.

In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.

Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.

A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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