Bud proves he’s No.1

Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford is the new undisputed welterweight king and arguably the latest pound-for-pound supremo too.

Crawford conquered Errol Spence on Saturday night in a dominant nine-round stoppage win in Las Vegas.

Crawford now holds all four belts in the 147lbs division - the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO which means mandatory challengers are keen to get a title shot. Immediately after, rivals began calling for their opportunity.

But Crawford has a clear pathway to the ultimate boxing legacy in just two fights believes former WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, who was at the T-Mobile Arena.

Berto said: “So who does Crawford fight next? I say Jermell Charlo for the 154lbs undisputed titles. After that, Canelo! Then bye to boxing. That’s a 100 million-dollar play. People saying that Crawford is way too small for Canelo don’t know s*** about boxing. They said the same about Floyd vs Canelo. Canelo isn’t a huge guy. He’s small for 168. Crawford is taller, [has a] longer reach, and has room to fill out. Skills pay the bills, though.”

Crawford must find a way around a contracted rematch with Spence if Berto’s double deal is to even get aired. After dominating Spence, Crawford, 36 next month, didn’t mention any second fight.

“Errol Spence is a tremendous talent. He’s got a great jab,” said Crawford. “We were worried about the jab coming in because that’s how he sets up all his shots.

 “As I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion. I’m an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer. I want to thank Spence and his team. Without him, none of this would have been possible.”

The WBA’s challenger is Lithuania’s unbeaten Eimantas Stanionis - a highly rated 28-year-old. However, there is significantly more hype about IBF mandatory Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.

The 26-year-old American is now 31-0 with 28 KOs and looks the best bet to dethrone the champ. Despite clearly being a hard-hitter, it is in fact Boots’ silky skills which has led to him being so respected.

He is a clever switch hitter, like Crawford, and lands spiteful shots with consistent accuracy.

The fact that Ennis has drawn immense praise from Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather too speaks volumes for his ability. He is now ready for a world title shot, and Crawford could be ordered to defend against him in the coming months.

However, it’s also known that the champion may have to rematch Spence, who has insisted he will activate his contractual clause, despite being totally outclassed and broken up badly. 

If this happens, it may see both move up in weight and vacate the titles, meaning Ennis would be upgraded from holding an ‘interim’ belt to become the full world champion by default.