***The Official Sanctioned TC/Benavidez RBR Thread 10/13 ESPN 10:30 EST***

[GolovkinGOAT]

Good fight, the first half of the fight was REAL competitive. Benavidez made a real good account for himself, especially given his knee injury, but Crawford pulled away from him in the second half of the fight. The top fighters at 147 are going to be real tough fights for Crawford.

you mean the leg was a problem?

 

[borntoloseNOT]

TC/Spence needs to happen for sure. I'm not saying Crawford displayed great power. Benavidez walked through his power plenty of times early on. What makes TC/Spence compelling is not due the likelihood of an overpowering shot but to see if Crawford has the skills to outpoint Spence. I think that question is up for debate.

People act like Spence is just this come forward wrecking machine who just is too powerful. He's an excellent technician in there, as well. TC is gonna have a hard time outpointing Spence.

do you know what lunging is? Lunging shots is the worst form of fighting, and even many top boxers can lunge gracefully. Not making any excuses, I told you I'm eating my cake. When I looked at the HBO replay of Herrera vs Benavidez, Jose moves rather ''dumb...'' even Brandon Rios has better head movement in bobbing and weaving TO USE....

To put in Perspective, Spence finished Ocampo who was ranked higher and is at 154 now, who was finished in Round 1.

Benavidez was pretty successful tonight, had plenty of moments and made TC look plenty bad at times. Not sure where you are coming from, he dropped his hands a lot too, are you going to cry to me that coach said not to do that of the first boxing lesson? It was a fun fight, and not every technician does it by the book.

 

[Breaducce]

fo sho! your observation is exactly what it is. for instance, it took 12 rounds of chessmatch in countershots this night. If that's the case, Bud is in a rude awakening against Spence. Spence is just as fast as Crawford the only difference is that Spence is not a combination puncher on counter attacks which is why he's more deadly. However, the power is real with Spence. Prograis moved Indongo around with a Jab on the back foot easily. I see Spence taking Crawford to deep end of the sea, rogue waves, no life vest, drowning

Yo I thought a fight between crawford and spence would be closer before watching this fight, but seeing how much success Benevides had during the first half of the fight mannnn.....Crawford and Bomac better keep away from Spence for as long as they can......Thurman, Porter and Danny would also give Terrence Hell. 147 is going to be epic if the fights get made.

 

[Breaducce]

you mean the leg was a problem?

It looked like he was dragging it during the fight as it progressed past the midpoint. It may have been more mental but coming back from that type of injury can do that to you. I definitely think his leg played a factor in the fight, not the biggest by any stretch but a factor non the less. Whether, physically or mentally his legs just did not look right, and you definitely need your legs or confidence in them against the best mover in the game.

 

[YellowBanenoo]

I didn't watch the fight. How did crowford do?

 

[tekkennlee]

I feel like Keef would catch Crawford with something in the middle of an exchange

Crawford has been caught before in the lighter weight class and was rocked and tonight he got caught a couple of times and round 12 got caught flush with a right hand but walked right threw it.

This seems to be Crawford"s weakness just like Whitaker getting caught with flush hard punches while countering, if you remember Mayweather caught Whitaker flush and rocked him in their fight.

But maybe the extra weight is keeping him from getting hurt like before, he's obviously stronger now and his legs are stronger.

But if Thurman or Spence nails him flush, will he go to sleep? time will tell.

Oh this other kid is really good and will give anyone problems, but he's got no movement or footwork because he's on one leg due to the damage his knee took being shot, but he's actually really good and extremely big, for 147.

Don't be surprised he doesn't steal a belt from some other champion at 147, he's talented enough to upset someone else who's got a belt, or beat someone for a vacant stripped belt.

Because he was giving Crawford some trouble, until Crawford got his timing down and certain constant movement.

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

Yo I thought a fight between crawford and spence would be closer before watching this fight, but seeing how much success Benevides had during the first half of the fight mannnn.....Crawford and Bomac better keep away from Spence for as long as they can......Thurman, Porter and Danny would also give Terrence Hell. 147 is going to be epic if the fights get made.

I'm still in denial. I don't see how Jose Benavidez isn't a fluid boxer. most boxers that had better moments against Spence had good upper body movement and proper throwing technique. If Spence just has to worry about range finding countershots in the pocket like tonight, then it's for Spence to turn it up against Crawford.

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

But maybe the extra weight is keeping him from getting hurt like before, he's obviously stronger know and his legs are stronger.

This. Cotto had a better chin moving up. Cotto was rocked once by Paulie Malignaggi, or rather, ate a shot the way TC ate one from Gamboa

 

[GolovkinGOAT]

It looked like he was dragging it during the fight as it progressed past the midpoint. It may have been more mental but coming back from that type of injury can do that to you. I definitely think his leg played a factor in the fight, not the biggest by any stretch but a factor non the less. Whether, physically or mentally his legs just did not look right, and you definitely need your legs or confidence in them against the best mover in the game.

I think it's more his style in general which his body movement looks rather poor, very stiff stance. Look at other skinny fighters in Jesus Soto Karass, who looks basic, but usually lands when needed. I thought Jose Benavidez would be a good Mexican American prospect, but isn't anything remotely similar to his brother who's also Tall and Lanky

 

[Breaducce]

I'm still in denial. I don't see how Jose Benavidez isn't a fluid boxer. most boxers that had better moments against Spence had good upper body movement and proper throwing technique. If Spence just has to worry about range finding countershots in the pocket like tonight, then it's for Spence to turn it up against Crawford.

Jose was fluid, good pull outs on the shots that he landed, good defense, and his jab was fantastic the first half of the fight. The issue was he wasn't willing to lead as much as he should have. His mind was to focused on countering rather then being first when it was there for him. Make no mistake about it though, he made a great account of himself but there were punches that he left in the ring.

 

[tekkennlee]

Crawford stepped in range for his opponent to throw his right hand and Crawford then slips to his right side and throws the uppercut landing flush and knocking him down, beautiful boxing and setting up a counter punch.

The uppercut lands flush because it travels at a shorter distance then his opponents right hand and lands flush because Crawford knows his opponent has been throwing and landing that counter right all night and Crawford baits his opponent to throw it again and boom fights over.

 

[tekkennlee]

This. Cotto had a better chin moving up. Cotto was rocked once by Paulie Malignaggi, or rather, ate a shot the way TC ate one from Gamboa

Floyd to, he was getting rocked in the lighter weight classes, do to his getting brave and maybe his weaker legs, but moving up he wasn't even hurt until the Mosley fight, but after what Mosley did to Margarito and Mosley"s known punching power, him rocking Floyd wasn't a shock, it's was even more surprising that Floyd got caught with a simple basic faint to the stomach and then a right hand, but didn't even go down. But Floyd worked on his defensive techniques when moving up in weight and getting better.

Crawford better be careful getting countered and hit with right hands against the other champions, because they have the experience and power to stop him, they can set him up with a cleaner shot, then the past fighters and this guy.

Crawford needs to get back in the gym and start working on when pulling out of countering range use that Whitaker footwork and step over sliding out of his opponents countering range by stepping over at an angle and turning his opponents, just watch whitaker vs Chavez and Whitaker"s footwork and Chavez trying to counter his movement using a right hand, just like the right hand Crawford was getting countered with and stung.

Crawford seems to stay in countering range to long and pulls strait back to get hit with right hands.

Because i am licking my chops and thinking let me work on my counter right and combos, when Crawford pulls back and thinking i can knock him out, unlike this guy. If i am Spence and Thurman or Garcia, the counter right and body shots are Crawford"s weakness and his demise, fighting me, but with Gracie, it's his counter left hook that's his specialty.

Track record, Crawford has been getting hit and countered and rocked with the same punch every time and he's still getting hit with the same counter shot, Gamboa rocked him with and badly.

 

[HelpYouFall]

Yikes. Seems like a great month for poetic justice in combat sports...

 

[HardasNAILZ]

I’d love to see Crawford vs Brook. I think that would be a class match up.

 

[Seano]

Ultimately, Benavidez had nothing for that footwork and handspeed.

Benavidez gave Crawford a lot of issues. Toughest fight Crawford has had yet.

 

[randomg1t]

Benavidez gave Crawford a lot of issues. Toughest fight Crawford has had yet.

this is true, but i'd say it was only in the first half of the fight. after the 6th, crawford pretty much had him figured out and just put a beating on him.

 

[cottagecheesefan]

Was a good fight and a great finish. But wasn't Benavidez ranked like 30th in the world? I just looked on boxrec and it says he is 31st in the world rankings. Moreover, he has a pretty messed up knee. Further, he threw some good punches, trying to counter, but his overall defense was pretty awful for someone relying on a counter punch. He had an awkward stance, which made TC have trouble finding his distance I guess, but Benavidez was wide open most of the night, outside of when he put up the shitty ear muff guard.

To me, that does not bode well going forward for TC at 147.

I still remember him struggling vs the much smaller Gamboa, who is half the size of Benavidez, but much more skilled. Not saying that Danny G, Brook, Porter, Thurman, Spence, etc are Mayweather-like technicians, but I see them all beating TC. I mean, I would take Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto over Benavidez.

 

[Seano]

I didn't watch the fight. How did crowford do?

Had a hard time adjusting, IMO. Seemed tentative and confused for the first 6 rounds. He did eventually adjust but it took a long time considering Benavidez wasn't mixing it up that much. Maybe I'm not giving Benavidez enough credit but Crawford was getting hit quite a bit in the early going. Could be an issue vs a guy with a bit more pop.

 

[DeJulez]

Had a hard time adjusting, IMO. Seemed tentative and confused for the first 6 rounds. He did eventually adjust but it took a long time considering Benavidez wasn't mixing it up that much. Maybe I'm not giving Benavidez enough credit but Crawford was getting hit quite a bit in the early going. Could be an issue vs a guy with a bit more pop.

I had it 3-2 Benavidez going into the 6th round, then I didnt have him winning a round after that but for the first half of the fight, he was winning.