By: Hans Themistode
Stop asking about it.
That was the gist of what WBO welterweight titlist Terence Crawford was saying when he heard the words uttered from unified champion Errol Spence Jr.
“It could happen,” said Spence Jr. during a recent interview when asked about a showdown with Crawford before ultimately switching his attention to someone else entirely. “We gotta see how it go but I can move up to 160 and fight Canelo Alvarez.”
For years now, a bout between Spence Jr. and Crawford has been tabbed as one of the biggest in all of boxing. But for whatever reason, neither side has come close to hammering out a deal. According to Spence Jr., their showdown failing to come to fruition is due to team Crawford and his promoter Bob Arum. To make things easier on the pair, the 30-year-old Dallas product left an ironclad list of things that needed to happen in order to move their contest closer to the finish line.
“It’s just about Al (Haymon) and Bob to sit down and for Bob to stop lying,” explained Spence Jr. “We’ll see but it definitely could happen. Just gotta sit down and talk numbers so it definitely could happen. But like I said I’m the big dog in the welterweight division. He has to take a backseat and take that 60/40 or 70/30 or whatever we give him.”
As Spence Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) continued to detail his demands, Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) couldn’t help but laugh. The 33-year-old former three-division titlist, like most of the boxing world, listened closely to what Spence Jr. had to say. Not only was he left discouraged from what he heard but he has ultimately decided to pick up his ball and head home.
“And they said it was me,” said Crawford on his social media account. “I rest my case now, on to the next. That chapter is now close.”
While Crawford could reverse course, there isn’t much time to do so. Spence Jr. has always been regarded as a big welterweight. And for as dominant as he has been throughout his career, the undefeated titlist is ready to move on sooner rather than later.
“I’m a guy that sucks down to 147. I really think that people only see 80-70% percent of me at 147 pounds. I’m a guy that’s outgrown the weight. I’m just holding around because I want to be undisputed champion at 147.”