Spence: “Crawford Needs Me More Than I Need Him!”

Errol Spence Not Pressed to Face Terence Crawford

Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford
Errol Spence Jr (left) and Terence Crawford (right).

Errol Spence sees no rush in facing Terence Crawford!


With his sensational prizefight with “Showtime” Shawn Porter (30-3-1, 17 KO’s) officially in the books, the million dollar question is who will Errol “The Truth” Spence (26-0, 21 KO’s) fight next? There is already information out there that former champion Danny Garcia is in play for January 25, but for exploration purposes, lets look at other options.

Gauging Spence’s preference, there is little doubt that he would be facing WBA welterweight champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO’s) in the first quarter of 2020. His name side-by-side the Pac Man’s, encased in marque bright lights is a sight that he’s been itching to see.

There is one catch with the Pacquiao fight though. Thus far, the pugilistic politician has not given any indication that he earnestly wants to mix it up with Spence. Sure he’s expressed his willingness to chuck knuckles with Spence, but there’s never been much fire in his words.

Needless to say, if the pride of the Philippines is not willing to sign on the dotted line, then Spence might as well move on. The Truth could wish it so until his head hurts, yet minus a willing partner, there will be no big dance.

OTHER OPTIONS ON THE TABLE

The next biggest fish in the division is WBO world welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (35-0, 26 KO’s). Boxing-heads have clamored for this ready-made classic ever since Bud released his strangle hold on the junior welterweight division.

Before entering the badlands of the savage laden welterweight division, Crawford reigned as the fully unified, undisputed junior welterweight champion.

When the deadly Nebraskan southpaw found his way to the 147lbs danger zone, many had already unofficially anointed Errol Spence Jr as king of the hill.

“Like I said, tables turn. You know, I been calling out Danny and them for a long time and now they stepping in the ring trying to fight me, so we’ll see.

“I mean, we are going to go look and see who the next great, good available opponent. If I can’t get Pacquiao, or nothing happens with Terence or anybody else then we’ll fight Danny Garcia.

“So, I mean it doesn’t matter, I think me and Shawn had a great fight, so you know, we might can do that again.”

Errol Spence – Unified Welterweight Champion

BACKSEAT BUD

Unfortunately, just like Pac-Man is doing to him, Spence continues to make no effective effort to pen a fight with the undefeated WBA champion. As recently as the post-fight presser for his scrap with Porter, Spence doubled down on his capricious attitude toward a dust-up with Terence Crawford. In one breath, he says that he will look into pursuing the fight.

Later in the proceedings however, the Truth acted as if the tantalizing unification bout was as disposable as the cold fries at the bottom of the take out bag.

“It don’t matter, the last time that Crawford fought on pay-per-view he did 1oo,ooo buys. So, I’m not worried about Crawford right now. They don’t even really promote him the way they should be, so it is what it is.

“We’ll worry about Crawford when we get there, but like I said, Crawford need me more than I need him.”

Maybe he would fight Bud, maybe he wouldn’t. In either case, Spence is abundantly clear that he feels Crawford is the hard-luck charity case. So long as he aligns himself with the PBC, the Truth will have fights to make. This is very true.

IN DUE TIME

However, if Spence wants to accomplish the same undisputed feat at welterweight, which Bud mastered at junior welterweight, then there can be no avoidance of Crawford. Furthermore, if the Truth wants to retain the respect that he has garnered to his point, he will have to face those perceived to be his most dangerous rivals. At the moment, that’s Terence “Bud” Crawford.

Let’s just hope that the desire to prove supremacy prevails over politics. If so, we will mercifully be treated to a Spence v Crawford unification bout, sooner rather than later. Although, a word to the wise, it would not be a great idea to wager anything serious on the two fighting anytime soon!

By: Bakari Simpson

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1 Comment

  1. After watching Errol vs Porter, I still feel there is NO elite A level fighter @147. Everyone, including Manny is a solid B. So far all the fights between the top fighters @147 have all been extremely close, most could’ve gone either way. Except for Manny over Thurman. The one fight with no drug testing. hmm… But I wont get into that.
    Bud Crawford, In my opinion was an elite A level fighter @140. But 140 is not 147. The top fighters at 147 are natural welters, not blown up lightweights. There is a huge difference between the two. Thats why Floyd Mayweather never fought any prime black fighters or natural welters. Not until he fought C level Berto, who was shot and years removed from his best.
    However, now after seeing Errol v Porter, I think Crawford has the best chance at being the top fighter @147, and the only Elite A level fighter, worthy of P4P recognition. So with that, Errol is kind of right when he says Crawford needs him more. But it goes both ways. For Errol to ever be worthy of being a top 5 P4P fighter, hes going to have to beat Bud Crawford. To be the king of 147, Errol will have to beat Crawford. Errol fighting Danny Garcia is a waste of time in my opinion. Porter already beat Danny, so why not give Porter a rematch? I personally think Errol is running from Crawford. Crawford clearly has far better boxing skill. The only question that we need answered is, Can Crawford take a punch from a top natural welter? You know what I’d like to see? Crawford vs Porter. Or why not Crawford vs Manny? It seems like everyone is going to side-step Crawford. Oscar was right….Crawford is wasting his career with Bob Arum, because Al Haymon has all the welters. Maybe Crawford needs to make a change before all his best years are lost….

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About Bakari S.2874 Articles
Bakari is a Senior Writer for 3kingsboxing.com. Visit cheetahhead.com to view more of his literary work.