Spence vs. Crawford predictions and expert picks

Expert selections, odds, and predictions for the fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. on Showtime Boxing

Find out who the experts at CBS Sports think will win the Saturday night main event from Las Vegas.

When Errol Spence Jr. enters the ring to meet Terence Crawford, boxing fans will finally get to witness the bout they have been eagerly anticipating for years. The winner will be crowned the undisputed welterweight champion.

The 28-0 Spence comes into the match as the WBC, WBA, and IBF champion. Even though he has only ever held a welterweight world title, he has outperformed top opposition in the weight class. Additionally, Spence has stated that this is his final opportunity to compete at 147 pounds.

Crawford, the WBO champion, is 39-0 overall and unbeaten. He did hold the WBO lightweight title, though, before stepping up to junior welterweight, where he eventually won the undisputed title. He will now attempt to in the bout on Saturday.

Since there is a rematch clause in the fight, Saturday night will only be the beginning of the battle between these top pound-for-pound competitors.

The lower weight divisions will also have some entertaining action on the undercard. Isaac Cruz and Giovanni Cabrera square off in a WBA championship eliminator, bringing together two up-and-coming contenders in the lightweight class. Gervonta “Tank” Davis is best known for being put to his greatest test by Cruz. Cruz has 24 professional victories, with 17 coming via knockout. In addition, Nonito Donaire, a former unified champion, will challenge Alexandro Santiago for the vacant WBC bantamweight title. And the junior middleweight bout between Sergio Garcia and Yoenis Tellez, two up-and-coming contenders, kicks off the PPV.

Before we get to our staff choices and predictions for the PPV portion of the festivities, let’s take a closer look at the complete fight program with the most recent odds from Caesars Sportsbook given all the events on Saturday night.

Spence vs. Crawford fight card, odds

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

Campbell: Something has to separate these two well-rounded, unblemished champs in a matchup this close on paper. Crawford, who has demonstrated in the past that he can be wounded and even dropped, will eventually be overwhelmed by Spence’s pressure and chin in this fight. While Crawford is the more cunning of the two and may have more methods to triumph, no opponent has been able to stop Spence’s onward momentum. In an absolute thriller, Spence’s intelligent pressure technique would inevitably catch up to Crawford as well unless Crawford can clearly injure Spence and support him early.

Brookhouse: Picking this fight is almost impossible. At welterweight, Spence and Crawford have distinguished themselves from “the pack,” and “the pack” includes real rivals. Crawford, who has suffered losses to worse opponents in his career, may have an issue with Spence’s pressure and demonstrated capacity to endure a war while employing his powerful offensive. Spence hasn’t fought since December 2020, which worries me more than it should given how formidable he was in April of last year against Yordenis Ugas. Crawford has shown a little more activity and has greater slickness. It took me until about one sentence ago for me to switch my prediction from a narrow Crawford win to a narrow Spence win. I simply believe Spence will have the flashier, more eye-catching moments that get the judges to shade rounds in his favor in a very close fight. I believe there is a good reason why Crawford has maintained a slight edge as the betting favorite.

Wise: As has been said often in the lead-up to this historic battle, get ready for 12 rounds of lightning-fast chess. While fighting the top competition of this period at 147 pounds, both of these men have displayed incredible chins in addition to their destructive power. While Crawford has progressed through the lighter weight divisions with no difficulty, it appears that he has finally met his match now. Spence has a tough demeanor; even when clipped, he steps back and teeth down on the mouthpiece to recover and get stronger. It’s difficult to conceive that Spence won’t be able to dominate the ring a little bit with his power as he punishes Crawford on the way in until Crawford is able to go inside quickly and irritate Spence with his stance switching.