Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr had their long-awaited showdown in 2023.
After being linked to one another for a number of years, the two American stars finally met in Las Vegas to crown an undisputed champion at 147lbs.
Spence headed into the fight as the unified WBC, WBA and IBF champion, while Crawford held the WBO title, and was looking to become undisputed in a second division having already achieved that at super-lightweight.
Many fans expected the bout to be a 50-50 affair, but it turned out to be anything but that, as ‘Bud’ dominated the action from start to finish, dropping his rival on his way to a stoppage victory in the later rounds.
Spence is yet to be back in action since the defeat, meaning it has been nearly two years since his last fight, but it has been reported that he could be set to make his long-awaited return at some stage in 2025.
Having experienced first hand what it is like to stand opposite Spence in the ring, Crawford has given his take on his rival’s power, claiming to Stephen A. Smith that it wasn’t anything special.
“After the second round, when I hurt him, I felt as if he couldn’t handle my power like I could handle his. I remember him throwing an overhand looping left, and he caught me right on the button, I think it was the first or the second round, and I was just like, ‘This is it? Okay. This is gonna be a long night for him.’”
Since defeating Spence, Crawford went on to beat Israil Madrimov to win the WBA super-welterweight title, and will now make the ambitious jump up to 168lbs to face super-middleweight king Canelo Alvarez in September.
As for Spence, though WBN reports he is in the running for a title shot at welterweight against Mario Barrios, another report from Brunch Boxing suggests that, whilst a return is on the cards, he will be following Crawford’s path and moving up a division. Though he has remained secretive on the matter, he has said he will return.
I’ll be back when IM ready https://t.co/NfVWiNxHDA
— Errol Spence (@ErrolSpenceJr) January 17, 2025
