Saturday night boxing fans got to watch Errol Spence Jr. unify three belts and become the IBF, WBC and WBA Welterweight champion.
Spence took the fight to Ugas, winning most of the early rounds, his only scare coming in round 6 where Ugas seemed to stun Spence after knocking out his mouthpiece. Spence claimed he thought he heard the referee say “stop” and left himself open to blows from Ugas.
But in the end, Spence did enough damage for the fight to be called at the 1:44 mark of the tenth round, giving the unified champ another TKO to add to his 28-0 record.
Afterward, Spence made it clear what he wants and what everybody else wants.
Errol Spence Jr. vs Terence Crawford.
“Everybody knows who I want next,” Spence said. “I want Terence Crawford. That’s the fight that I want. That’s the fight everybody else wants. Like I said, I’m going to get these straps then go over there and take his s*** too. Terence I’m coming for that belt!”
At this point, there is no excuse.
It’s way past time and it’s the fight the sport and its fans deserve.
After beating Shawn Porter in November, Crawford’s biggest blow arrived in January when he filed a scathing lawsuit against his former promoter, Bob Arum and Top Rank.
In his lawsuit, Crawford accused the parties of racism and damaging his career by not being able to secure big fights for him.
In his $10 million lawsuit, the WBO welterweight champion claimed Arum “Simply does not care about, support, or know how to promote Black fighters,” and that he failed to build him into a PPV star.
Arum dismissed the charges and put the blame on Crawford.
This is a perfect example of the damaging effects of boxing politics, and how it ruins the sport and frustrates its fans.
Until the Porter fight, Crawford’s biggest opponents were Viktor Postol, Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez Jr, Amir Khan and Kell Brook.
Not the names that you’d dish out PPV dollars for, especially when fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman are around.
Or Errol Spence Jr., the one fans really crave.
But because of the hatred between Arum and Al Haymon, those fights could never materialize.
Now that can change.
Crawford is no longer under the Top Rank umbrella and Spence is back in the fighting shape we all knew before his horrific car accident in 2019.
Crawford is 34 years old and has a record of 38-0 with 29 KOs.
Spence is 32 years old and has a record of 28-0 with 22 KOs.
Both fighters have already fought and beat the other big names like Porter, Brook and Danny Garcia already.
At this point, the excuses and obstacles (outside of the financial negotiations, of course) have been removed. They are both in their prime and have proven they’re the elite fighters both in the division and the sport.
They both hold the belts that would ultimately unify the division. A fight between the two champions would give fans a true champion and, arguably, the best pound-per-pound fighter in boxing.
Terence Crawford wants the fight.
Errol Spence wants the fight.
Fans want the fight.
So boxing, please give us all what we want and deserve.
Don’t miss this opportunity to secure this mega-fight and unify the division titles. We all know there is no other fight that would generate the attention and financial windfall that this contest will.
Most importantly, don’t allow politics to deprive us of what could be the fight of the year, decade and century.
It’s time for Spence vs. Crawford.
Make it happen.
