Crawford v Beltran - Saturday Night

I see this as a fight were Crawford will elevate himself into the P4P stakes. I just see Crawford as a bit special and a fighter that in time will be amongst the 4 or 5 top elite fighters in the sport. I know a lot of people feel Ricky Burns poor performance flattered Crawford but my view is Terence barely needed to get out of first gear to cruise to victory.

Beltran also clearly beat Burns in their fight even if the score cards didn't show it and he is a game fighter with plenty of energy and a good engine. I think he will give Crawford a few things to think about early on but all told I am expecting an exquisite performance from Crawford.

Crawford wins and well. I think he is a very good talent, too. Beltran will be too one dimensional.

I presume crawford is a very heavy favourite... Why do you think beating Beltran will elevate him into the p4p ratings. Not saying he's not good enough for it but if a fight was going to do it, surely the gamboa fight carries more cachet than Beltran... Even allowing for the fact that gamboa was a Pygmy compared to crawford.

Correct me if I'm wrong....but didn't this guy demolish Gamboa in a cracker last year or early this year or am I thinking of the wrong chap?

mobilemaster8 wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong....but didn't this guy demolish Gamboa in a cracker last year or early this year or am I thinking of the wrong chap?

Wrong chap...We are talking about the guy who wouldn't have beaten the old Ricky and only won because Ricky was worried about his jaw !!

Beltran is better than his record suggests (couple of poor decisions against him as we know, namely Burns and Ramos) but he's not from the highest class so it'd take an absolute masterclass and dominant stoppage win to make Crawford a pound for pounder here.

That said, I do think that's where Crawford can / will be in terms of talent even if his record doesn't match up to it just yet and I think he'll win this one in style - I really rate him, although if he can't get a unification fight after this mandatory then I'd like to see him move up to Light-Welter. Weighing in at 135 and then being 152 on fight night as he was against Gamboa (who in fairness wasn't a million miles behind at 146) leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth and guys like Matthysse, Algieri and Garcia at 140 are closer to his own (real) size and would bolster his pound for pound credentials a lot more.

Anyway, back to this fight. Crawford just too skilled, strong and smart for Beltran. Raymundo has a great engine and is very good fighting at close quarters but Crawford has good defence and top ring IQ, as well. A lot got made of how he struggled against Gamboa's speed for three rounds or so, but he eventually got the measure of him, started landing the jab a lot more frequently when he turned southpaw (nice string to the bow, there), started countering and closed the show in style. Gamboa had no defece that night but that's not exactly a strength of Beltran's either.

Crawford all day for me and don't think it'll be particularly competitive. I do think we're looking at a really top-class fighter in 'Sweet T.'

Does Gamboa ever have any defence??!

The high risk approach of keeping his hands so bloody low all the time was part of what made him so exciting.

Personally I still think size, and Gamboa's power not carrying so far up the weights from where he was best, were the deciding factors in the TC fight - rather than TC being outright 'better'. But he still looks to have some serious skills - would love to see him in with Mikey Garcia, as a real test to any p4p claims. Then mix it with some proper 140lbers.

Don't think there's much doubt about that toppy. Gamboa was winning the rounds where he wasn't being dumped on his arse. Still a very good win for Crawford albeit one with a bit of a caveat

I can see why people say that, Toppy, but I guess I'm just more inclined to focus on the positives and focus on the good in Crawford's performance. Gamboa is small at Lightweight (although he did look slighly more acclimatised to 135 at the weigh in and in general for that fight) whereas Crawford could easily compete at 140 without giving away size or strength, but it's not as if he just man-handled Gamboa or weighed him down in clinches, and he didn't walk him down either. He made actual adjustments, switched things up and grew in to the fight. Being bigger definitely helped, don't get me wrong, but he clearly had more ring savvy than Gamboa and for me that was just as responsible for turning the fight in his favour.

Let's not forget that while Gamboa is small, he's also lavishly talented, too and could probably still beat quite a few other ranked Lightweights. I think it's fair enough to have some reservations about that fight, but to me it showed a lot of potential in Crawford as well. But as I said, if there's no unification bout after this I think he needs to go after the Light-Welter title holders. Mikey Garcia would be a good fight as well, yep.

The win over Gamboa slightly flatters Crawford, IMO. Gamboa was tiny at the weight and that had an impact. That said, I have liked the look of him in last few fights. Expecting a convincing win over Beltran.

A 5" reach advantage is a considerable asset when you're a boxer working behind a jab, especially when you know the guy in front of you is offensively minded and not exactly Sweet Pea with the head movement.

Think I must be missing something with crawford, I've generally been disappointed ahen I've seen him. Everyone has always talked him up yet come fight night I've only seen someone decent not special. Might take more than the Beltran fight to convince me.

spencerclarke wrote:Think I must be missing something with crawford, I've generally been disappointed ahen I've seen him. Everyone has always talked him up yet come fight night I've only seen someone decent not special. Might take more than the Beltran fight to convince me.

It's the economy of movement that is Crawford's genius but it makes him look less spectacular than other fighters. I reckon he'd do 20 rounds no problem.

Gamboa is a more realistic opponent than Rigondeaux for Lomenchenko.

I'm a huge fan of Crawford. I think he's a top quality fighter. A win over Beltran (the number two ranked lightweight behind Crawford) would be a fitting end to a year that may well reward Crawford with FOY honours.

The Gamboa win comes with a heap of caveats - as all wins do over these enhanced boxers built up in a bio-chemist's lab.

I'm not sure about all the P4P claptrap but Crawford looks a potentially special fighter to me.

How has this received so little attention? Crawford looked immense, a real superstar in the making that'll only be helped by higher profile opponents at 140. Beltran is no mug but Crawford practically played with him at times!