Terence Crawford Wants Errol Spence Jr Sooner Rather Than Later
The time seems ripe for a showdown between unified 147-pound champ Errol Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs). Following his tenth round TKO win over the then-WBA welterweight champ Yordenis Ugas on April 16, Spence let his intentions be known that he has his sights on a fight with Crawford.
The WBO welterweight champ was in Las Vegas for Shakur Stevenson’s victory over Oscar Valdez to become a unified champion at 130-pounds on April 30. During an interview with ESPN, “Bud” was asked about a match against Spence.
NOT NOW, BUT RIGHT NOW
“I’m free to do whatever I want. There’s nothing standing in the way from us fighting. There’s no promotion company that’s blocking it, there’s no wrong side of the street, there’s no nothing. Let’s see who the best welterweight in the world is.
[…] Now everybody’s saying that Errol’s back and he’s 100% ready. So now is the perfect time for me and him to fight. He called me out, so it ain’t no backing up.”
The doors for that fight are more open than ever. While Spence is with PBC and Al Haymon, Crawford is currently a free agent and can sign with any promoter of his choosing. In years past, “Bud” came off as indifferent about a match with Spence. But now that’s changed. He wants to fight Spence and wants it ASAP. If it means signing a deal with PBC, the 34-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska is willing to do that.
READY TO TAKE THE EXTRA STEP
“I’m going straight into it. I don’t want no tune-up fights, I don’t want nothing. I wanna go straight into it […] The way we can get this fight done is them sending me an offer and we look at the offer and sit down at the table, and we discuss what’s needed from both sides – Team Spence, Team Crawford – and we get the fight done like that. My team is just waiting on them to get in touch with us and make this fight happen.”
The change of attitude from Crawford is a welcome sight from fans. A match between the two champions has been bandied about for years. Unfortunately, you saw no serious negotiations take place.
Now more than ever, all sides have a vested interest and want it to happen. Interest in the bout shot up after Spence looked better than ever in his win over Ugas. Crawford is coming off a stoppage win over two-time welterweight champ Shawn Porter in November 2021.
Crawford is ranked third in 3Kings Boxing’s Top Ten Fighter rankings while Spence is ranked fourth. Both are in their physical prime. It’s a big-money super-fight and arguably the best matchup in the sport. Fingers are being crossed by fans and pundits that this finally leads to a fight between them later this year. Stay tuned to 3Kings Boxing for further updates.
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By: Michael Wilson Jr.
