Once again, “reports” indicate that Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford is going to happen.
Of course, previous “reports” have been wrong. Mike Coppinger of ESPN and a couple of writers at Ring Magazine/RingTV have whiffed in efforts to break the news regarding the welterweight title unification. Back in November, the fight was rumored to be “near.” Then, June was the date mentioned. Then, there were a couple of stabs at a July fight date.
This time, however, there seems to be substance behind the “reports” as Crawford has at least indirectly referenced the bout on his instagram page.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Coppinger tweeted this regarding the big fight:
“Breaking: Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have agreed to a deal to fight for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, sources tell ESPN.
Al Haymon, who advises Spence, and CAA’s Ish Hinson (Crawford’s advisor) will deliver the most anticipated boxing match since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015.”
He would later follow that up with a bit regarding the contractual rematch clauses in place for the bout:
“The Crawford-Spence fight, which will be televised on Showtime PPV on July 29, contains a bidirectional rematch clause that the loser can trigger within 30 days after the fight, sources told ESPN. It’s a two-fight deal for Crawford with PBC.”
Boxing fans have been through this Spence-Crawford wringer before, so the general feeling is one somewhere between skeptical and guardedly excited. But, as mentioned above, there seems to be more of a reason to believe that the fight is happening this time, although the buzz that there are no signed contracts at this point does give some pause to the “let’s book our rooms in Vegas” enthusiasm.
Real boxing fans know just how good Spence vs. Crawford could be and how important it can be for the sport to crown it’s first-ever undisputed, fully unified welterweight champ of the four-belt era.
The 33-year-old Errol Spence Jr. has a record of 28-0 with 22 KOs and currently holds the IBF, WBA, and WBO welterweight titles. High-water mark victories have come against Kell Brook (in the UK to win the IBF title), Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter (to win the WBC title), Danny Garcia, and, most recently, Yordenis Ugas (to win the WBA title). The bout against Ugas, back in April of 2022, was Spence’s last ring appearance, something which means he’ll be coming off of about 17 months of inactivity when he faces Crawford this July. The fighter from Desoto, Texas suffered through a horrendous car wreck in the fall of 2019 and surgery to repair a damaged retina in the summer of 2021, which cost him a high-profile bout with Manny Pacquiao.
The 35-year-old Terence Crawford has a record of 39-0 with 30 KOs and currently holds the WBO welterweight title. His high-water mark victories have come against Ricky Burns (in Scotland to win the WBO lightweight title, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol (to win the WBC super lightweight title), Julius Indongo (to win the WBA and IBF super lightweight titles), Jeff Horn (to win the WBO welterweight title), Amir Khan, Kell Brook, and Shawn Porter. In his most recent outing, last December, he crushed David Avanesyan in six rounds. The former lightweight and unified super lightweight champ from Omaha, Nebraska has long been considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and either the no. 1 or no. 2 welterweight in the world, either ahead of or behind Spence.
If this fight comes through and stays on the schedule, fans will be in for at least two outstanding bouts between two of the very best in the business, plus a likely part 3.
