Spence v Crawford: quiet Americans clash in best fight boxing can deliver

It might not have the mainstream sizzle of Mayweather-Pacquiao, but Saturday's long-awaited superfight between unbeaten welterweight masters could deliver greater thrills

It took more than five years for the eagerly awaited summit meeting between the undefeated American welterweights Errol Spence and Terence Crawford to finally come together. Now that it's here, all signs indicate Saturday night's delicious matchup for the undisputed championship in boxing's glamour division will have been worth the wait.

Crawford, a former champion at 135lbs and 140lbs from Omaha, has campaigned in the same weight class as Spence since 2018, when he moved up to capture the WBO's version of the title at 147lbs. By that point Spence, a 2012 US Olympian from the Dallas suburb of DeSoto, was already the IBF's welterweight champion following his clinical dismantling of Kell Brook at Bramall Lane one year earlier, and has since added the WBC and WBA straps.