DESERT STORM
Crawford v Spence one for the ages in Vegas
LAS VEGAS in late July is not recommended for people from this side of the world — far too hot.
That, in more ways than one, will be the case on July 29. It will be melting time inside and outside the ring.
The venue is the 20,000-seater T-Mobile Arena, the venue for Conor McGregor’s fanciful flirtation with Floyd Mayweather almost six years ago.
This time it will be a legitimate and authentic clash between the two best welterweights in the world, unbeaten southpaws Terence Crawford and Errol Spence.
The latter, the only American male boxer to reach the Olympic quarterfinals at London 2012, holds the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
Titles
Crawford, who holds the WBO belt, previously owned all four major titles at lightwelterweight and the WBO one at lightweight and has been a world champion for over nine years, against half a dozen for Spence.
The man who pulled off the fight everybody had tried to make for at least three years is Tom Brown, named Matchmaker of the Year a remarkable six times by the North American Boxing Association.
Only six weeks ago, Brown, in a co-promotion with Oscar De La Hoya, staged another mega bout between unbeaten fighters at the same venue, when Gervonta Davis knocked out Ryan Garcia in the seventh.
From Minnesota, Brown started working for promoter Dan Goossen and his Ten Goosen Boxing company in 1983.
Goossen, who died in September 2014, said of Brown: “He is the best matchmaker in the business today, especially with developing young fighters.
“He knows how to satisfy the fans, networks and arenas by giving them a competitive bout while keeping in mind the importance of the fighter’s further development.
“Those are very thin lines that only the best can walk.”
Rising to vice-president of the Goosen outfit, Brown worked with, amongst others, Olympic gold medallists and world champion David Reid and Andre Ward, plus Michael Nunn, Shane Mosley, Terry Norris and Gabriel and Rafael Ruelas.
He was matchmaker for all the Goosen shows at the Reseda Country Club, half an hour west of Los Angeles.
And he was there on the night of February 23 in 1993 when a 22-year-old Wayne McCullough made a successful pro debut by stopping Alfonso Zamora.
Brown’s latest project is potentially the biggest fight in the welterweight division since the first meeting of Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns in Vegas in September 1981.
Crawford (35), from Omaha, Nebraska, made his pro debut in March 2008 and is 39-0, only nine wins going the distance.
Along the way, he has collected the WBO title at lightweight, all four championships at light-welterweight, made half a dozen successful defences of his WBO crown at welterweight, and has had 17 world title bout
Pro
Spence (34), went pro shortly after London 2012.
Born on Long Island, he was raised in Desoto, Texas and is 28-0, with 22 of his wins inside the distance.
He won the IBF title by stopping Kell Brook in the 11th round in Sheffield in May 2017 and added the WBC crown by edging out Shawn Porter in Los Angeles in September 2019.
In April last year, Spence added the WBA belt by halting Yordenis Ugas in ten rounds in Arlington, Texas.