Errol Spence Jr. has been fighting at welterweight ever since he turned professional in 2012. After campaigning at 135 and 140, Spence’s upcoming opponent Terence Crawford joined the 147-pound division in 2018.
For the last five years, Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) and Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) had been inching toward a tantalizing tilt, and it finally will come to fruition when the fight was announced for July 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view.
Spence owns the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles, and for the last couple of years, he’s made it clear that making the weight class limit is a tougher task each time, and that super welterweight aspirations were imminent.
But Spence made it a point to stick around to fight the WBO champion Crawford and for the chance to be crowned undisputed champion.
“Errol could have easily moved up to 154 and said, ‘Man, I’m not fighting that dude.’ I commend him for staying at 147 and doing what he said he was going to do, and that’s the fight Terence Crawford, and I respect him for that,” Crawford said during the first episode of “All Access” on Showtime.
“I’m happy that the fight is here but I am not satisfied until my hand is raised on July 29.”
While Spence was attracting the more reputable opponents from a loaded PBC roster, Crawford was forced to work with what he had due to his promotional ties to Top Rank at the time.
Crawford beat former Manny Pacquiao conqueror Jeff Horn in his first fight at 147 pounds for the title he now owns and went on to defend his crown against Jose Benavidez Jr., Amir Khan, Egidijus, Kavaliauskas, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, and David Avanesyan.
The 35-year-old Crawford’s knockout win against Avanesyan in December was a one-off with recent boxing entrant BLK Prime.
The free agent Crawford finally aligned himself with PBC to land the yearslong fight he always desired.
“Spence has been on my mind ever since I moved up to the division. Fans and the media … they were saying fight Errol,” said Crawford. “I trained my ass off to be where I am at. I deserve these fights. It was frustrating, but I had to take what I could get.
“I think it’s going to be a hell of a fight [against Spence]. I think we are going to fight the sh!t out of each other. This is my moment to shine. I am prepared to do whatever I have to do.
“When I am met with force, I am going to give you force right back – anything that I do I want to win.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.