Things have been active for unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) as he vacations with his family in Bali, Indonesia. Earlier in the week, he was going toe-to-toe with WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs), and now it seems like the rematch with Errol Spence Jr. (28-1, 22 KOs) is now off or like Mike Tyson would say “… fade into Bolivian”.
Crawford posted on his X account, “ I done heard it all now Errol Spence Jr it’s ok tho because all in all I’m glad it’s over and done with. I wish you well ma brotha. ” Spence has been posting more often on Instagram these days, and more recently, a video popped up on his account showing him leaving a medical facility after having surgery on his eye. This was the first indication that any possibility of a rematch with Crawford would occur in the summer at the earliest. Crawford is 36 years old and likely doesn’t want to waste any time, as he’s heard the critics talk about him fighting only once a year.
I done heard it all now @ErrolSpenceJr it’s ok tho because all in all I’m glad it’s over and done with. I wish you well ma brotha.
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) January 12, 2024
This saga about the rematch is interesting as multiple outlets reported that when the original fight was signed, the loser would have up to 30 days after the fight to trigger the rematch clause, and it needed to happen before the end of 2023. With Showtime Boxing closing its doors, there was likely an extension to that deadline, giving Premier Boxing Champions more time to secure a content distributor, which ended up being Amazon Prime. All signs pointed towards the rematch between Crawford and Spence taking place in March, which is the first month of the Amazon deal, but with Spence’s surgery, the timetable was pushed down the road for several months. If the fight is indeed off, what both men do next will be more than interesting.
Crawford has options at welterweight and junior middleweight, but they aren’t all financial blockbusters or pay him the money he would have earned in a rematch with Spence. The fight with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis isn’t a big money fight right now, and neither is one against Keith Thurman or Eimantas Stanionis. There are two big fights at junior middleweight: Tim Tszyu & Jermell Charlo. The Charlo storyline is already built in when Crawford told him, “You next,” after knocking down Spence in their fight. The Tszyu fight would be a blockbuster in Australia and could have no roadblocks since they are both WBO world champions.
It’s safe to say that Spence’s time at welterweight is just about over. If this rematch with Crawford is dead, his next fight will be at junior middleweight against a guy like Brian Mendoza or Tony Harrison. PBC would ease him into the division and set him up for a big fight in 2025 if he still wants to do that. Spence posted about not living a true fighter lifestyle and that it caught up to him. He’s made millions of dollars, and retiring now wouldn’t be the worst idea after surviving that horrific car accident in 2019. All will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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