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Two of combat's baddest mofos electrified fight fans this past Saturday, doing so in bad boy fashion. Terence Crawford and Justin Gaethje laid down the law and showed the masses that they are the two baddest mofos walking this Earth.
Crawford solidified himself as boxing's pound for pound king in dominant and unforgettable fashion. Gaethje took the head of one of UFC's most dominant fighters, marking his scopes back up the ladder of the lightweight division in the UFC as he continues to hunt for championship galore. What a night of combat. What a night for Crawford and Gaethje.
Bud is the one. That's your punchline. Terence Crawford is the pound for pound best boxer on the planet with no ifs; ands; or buts about it. Just ask Errol Spence. Spence vs Crawford was a super fight that boxing was in need of. The anticipation; the intensity; and the pure excitement of having the two best boxers clash for all the stakes. A true pound for pound fight- just for Terence Crawford to dismantle Spence and cruise to victory to claim the Undisputed Welterweight Championship. Crawford seriously put on one of, if not the greatest performances of all time inside the squared ring. That is not an exaggeration.
Bud dominated from the second round on, before finishing Spence with a TKO in the ninth round. I'm talking dominated-dominated. Off some Drago/Creed type of domination, minus the death. In all seriousness, Crawford was far too much for Spence. We saw how locked in he was before the bout even began- as he had one of music's greatest names walk him out:
Pure goosebumps. Ems' GOAT confidence wave slithered into Crawfords body like Space Jam, and gave him unlimited confidence. Confidence we saw throughout the entirety of his in-ring performance. Bud's countering; combos; and lead jab was spectacular. The domination started in the second, when Bud landed his first knockdown of the contest and the first knockdown of Spence's career. Watch how Crawford entices Spence with a great body jab, setting up a counter of Spence's jab with a beautiful 2-1 combo to floor 'em:
That was just the start of the domination. The rest of the fight was all in Buds' hands. Spence couldn't do anything against Crawford's jab nor his counterpunching. Bud beat that cat to the punch on almost every occasion, carving him up with his trademark timing; pure counter work; and an elite sense of range. Crawford wasn't going to be tamed by any boxer on the planet that night, he out-landed Spence 185-96 in total punches, with 98 being power punches along with a whopping 87-33 advantage in the jab department. Here is a full graphic on the punch stats for both fighters:
In my opinion, Crawford showed one of the best all around jabs I had ever seen in a bout, doing it in possibly the most important and anticipating bouts since Mayweather/Pacquiao in 2015. Whatever he wanted to do with that jab, he did. Rather damage to the body; damage to the orbital; or using it to set combos- the jab was the absolute difference maker. It was just unfair. Here's a montage of Crawford's jab work if any reader wants to spend a quick second to bask in the jab's beauty.
A masterclass in it's grandest form. Crawford became the first four-belt unanimous welterweight champion in boxing history with the win and solidified himself as the pound for pound king. Crawford also became the first male fighter to ever achieve undisputed status in two weight divisions in the modern four-belt era. That is the definition of a BMF. That's for damn sure. What a performance. What a fighter. Checkout the winning combo:
Saturday was such a special combat night. Boxing had the thrill to witness Spence versus Crawford, as MMA had the thrill to see the BMF title belt be once again, put on the line for Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier to go to war for. Boy, was the anticipation at an all-time high. Gaethje and Poirier had an all-time classic the last time the two battled inside the Octagon. Which was ended by a KO courtesy of Poirier. Round 2 ended in a similar way- also by knockout. The only thing is, ya know... it wasn't by the attack of Dustin Poirier and it wasn't in the fourth round of a war.
Justin Gaethje has joined Jorge Masvidal in the "notorious" (not really) BMF club, joining in EPIC fashion. JG stunned the fight world and added more memories to a special fight night, with an epic head-kick knockout to claim his revenge of Dustin Poirier. EPIC indeed. "The Highlight" struck again. The dude is something else. Now he is in stone- as the BMF. Very deserving as he is hands down the baddest dude on the UFC roster- and the most exciting fighter maybe of all-time.
The fight? Well it started as we had expected it would: both guys moving forward, laying down thunder type booms at one another. Poirier seemed to have grabbed the first round, as he opened up Gaethje above the eye. We all know a cut doesn't mean sh** to JG. Right back to business it was. Gaethje started the second with his same game plan, as he quickly landed a high kick to shut DP's lights out, sending shockwaves across Utah. Mmm, take a look at the poetry in motion:
Watching Poirier's body fall limp to the canvas was absouletly jaw-dropping. The round had just began and then BOOM. Same feeling of Chandler's on Tony Ferg'. What a beautiful kick, bravo Justin. Bravo. The last time Poirier was knocked out was in 2016 by Michael Johnson. 2016! Yes, that's crazy. Look at his track record since that loss. An active warmonger he has been. DP has faced the very baddest on the PLANET, including wars with Holloway; Gaethje; and Chandler. Wars that saw nuclear led power punches that did nothing to shut Poirier's lights out. Then BOOM, he falls to a high-kick. This sport is so beautiful, isn't it?
I mentioned Gaethje sticking to his game-plan with the kick. That's exactly what transpired. Gaethje tried the very kick in the first, but Poirier dodged the chaos as he was in mid-strike towards Gaethje. Justin obviously was looking for the kick to be a difference maker, trying it again the first chance he had in the following round. Victory; back flip; and BMF status in stone. Now Gaethje has his eyes back set on the lightweight title as he claims to start another run for a title shot (0-2). Here is my favorite angle from Gaethje's beautiful knockout:
What a night of combat it was. Rather in MMA; Boxing; or Wrestling. The sports world was set ablaze by combat and competition. Boxing needed that performance from Crawford. The hope was for the super fight to be- well a super fight. Nonetheless, having Crawford be so spectacular was a big plus for the sport moving forward. The week prior it was Naoya Inoue and now this week it was Terence Crawford. Both fighters showed that boxing has two of the most elite and superior athletes on the globe. Love to see it. I think we all would like to see Dustin Poirier versus Justin Gaethje III as well. Combat sports f'n rock, cha heard.
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