With just under five months left in the year, boxing fans are still holding on to hope that we’ll finally see WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) fight one another.
Rarely in the history of boxing have we seen two undefeated champions that are in the top five pound for pound list face one another. This is why a fight between the 32-year-old Spence, and Crawford who turns 35 in September is by far the biggest and best fight that can be made in boxing.
Obstacles preventing an Errol Spence Jr. vs Terence Crawford fight are gone
The biggest obstacle that prevented this fight was happening in the past is that Spence fights on Showtime and is signed with Al Haymon PBC, and Crawford was signed with promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank and fights on ESPN.
As everyone that follows boxing knows, promotional and network conflicts are the biggest barricade in preventing a fight from happening. With the long history of animosity between PBC and Top Rank, it was highly unlikely that a deal could be made to allow the fight to happen.
But when Crawford announced in his post-fight interview following his 10th round TKO victory over Shawn Porter that he wasn’t going to re-sign with Top Rank and become a free agent, there was finally realistic hope that the fight would get made.
Earlier this year, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger reported earlier this year that a fight between Spence and Crawford could happen in October. But since we’re in August an October showdown between these two won’t happen. For a fight of this magnitude, you need at least three months to promote, which includes multi-city press tours, commercials, and a reality show that shows both fighters’ training camps.
As of right now, the best-case scenario if the two sides can agree on a deal this week, is that the fight happens in mid or late November. And if a fight is going to happen this year, then a deal must be made before October.
Too often the best possible fights in boxing don’t get made or happen years too late, which was the case when Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao fought in 2015. Mayweather would win by unanimous decision and it was the highest-grossing fight in boxing history, but the fight would have been even bigger and better if it happened five years earlier.
The time for a Spence vs Crawford fight has never been better
Spence has been the best welterweight in the post-Mayweather era and is a strong boxer-puncher that continues to improve with each fight despite long layoffs due to various injuries.
Crawford is a three-division champion and is a crafty and versatile fighter that beat fighters in southpaw stance or conventional and has been at the top of the pound-for-pound list for many years.
A fight between these two has the potential to be one of the greatest fights of all time, and experts and fans are split on who they think will win.
The question is, can these two men and their teams agree on the financial terms and make this fight happen? It seems both sides want a 60-40% split of the revenue as they believe they’re the A side of the fight. Perhaps a 45-45 split with the winner getting the final 10% can be agreed upon since both men are confident that they’ll be victorious.
At this point, fans don’t care about which fighter will make the most money. They just want to see this long-awaited fight happen between two of the best fighters of this era, and they want to see the fight happen this year.
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