Welcome to The Red Corner, a brand new boxing and MMA column brought to you by the Amarillo Pioneer, covering the world of boxing and mixed martial arts. This column will bring you news, opinions, and quick facts that you need to know about the fights that make the sports world pay attention.
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It looks like boxing fans are about to get two big fights that might bring us one step closer to clarifying who is the best welterweight boxer on the planet.
Next month, unified WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence, Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) will defend his titles against the legendary eight-division world titlist Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs). This bout will certainly be a good one and should answer many questions, especially following Spence’s return to the ring in December following a car crash that left his temporarily sidelined and Pacquiao’s absence from the ring since outpointing Keith Thurman in 2019.
But, Spence vs. Pacquiao is not the only big welterweight fight on the horizon.
On Thursday, it was announced that the WBO has ordered Terence “Bud” Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) to defend his belt next against mandatory challenger Shawn Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs). The sanctioning body gave promoters for Crawford and Porter 30 days to negotiate the terms of the bout or else a purse bid would be opened to all promoters for the opportunity to host the fight. This means that it isn’t really a question of if Crawford and Porter will meet in the ring, but rather when they will meet in the ring.
Both of these bouts are sure to create fireworks. Most boxing fans don’t need a refresher on the skills and legacy of Manny Pacquiao, but it is worth saying again that a win over Spence would be perhaps one of the biggest achievements in his career. And for Spence, defeating Pacquiao would put perhaps the biggest name yet on his resume of vanquished opponents.
As far as Crawford and Porter, I am perhaps more excited for this bout than for the other bout. Even in his losing effort against Spence in 2019, Porter showed incredible skill and appeared to be leading the pace of the fight at many moments, turning in one of the best fights of 2019. And for Crawford, his position as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best fighters should always make him an attraction to fans.
Both of these bouts are sure to be incredible fights and it’s just what boxing fans deserve after a year of fewer fights than we had hoped to see. My biggest hope is that whoever emerges as the winners in both fights will step into the ring and further unify these belts in late 2021 or early 2022.
We’re not quite to a point where we have full clarity in the welterweight division yet, but these two bouts are certain to go a long way toward making it clear who truly is the best welterweight on the planet today.