Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford, billed as Undefeated. Undisputed. Unprecedented., was a welterweight professional boxing match contested in the welterweight division between unified WBA Super, WBC and IBF champion, Errol Spence Jr., and WBO champion, Terence Crawford. The fight took place on July 29, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Undefeated. Undisputed. Unprecedented.

Date	July 29, 2023
Venue	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and vacant The Ring welterweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Errol Spence Jr. Terence Crawford Nickname The Truth Bud Hometown Dallas, Texas, U.S. Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. Pre-fight record 28–0 (22 KO) 39–0 (30 KO) Age 33 35 Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)^[1] 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)^[2] Weight 147 lb (67 kg) 146+3⁄4 lb (67 kg) Style Southpaw Southpaw^[a] Recognition WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF welterweight champion The Ring No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter WBO welterweight champion The Ring No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 3-division world champion
Result
Crawford wins via 9th round TKO

Crawford defeated Spence via ninth-round technical knockout to become the first male to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the four belt era.^[3] The fight reportedly sold 700,000 PPV buys, generating over $59 million in revenue. It also generated over $20 million from ticket sales.^[4][5]

Background and buildup

In November 2018, American professional boxers Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford came face to face at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. They exchanged words, expressing their desire to face each other.^[6] In April 2019, Crawford defeated English boxer Amir Khan via technical knockout and called out Spence to a bout.^[7] In November 2020, Crawford defeated Kell Brook, the first common opponent between Spence and Crawford, via technical knockout. Crawford called out Spence once again.^[8] In April 2022, Spence returned from a career-threatening surgery after he was involved in a single-vehicle accident in October 2019.^[9] He defeated Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugás via technical knockout and proceeded to call out Crawford.^[10]

In September 2022, Spence and Crawford were on the verge of a deal after months of negotiations for November 19.^[11] However, negotiations collapsed at the 11th hour.^[12] On October 20, Crawford told ESPN;

"I agreed to all of their [B.S.] and they've been dragging their ass for months. Spence was nowhere to be found while I was trying to make the deal. I explained to Al Haymon and Errol that I was going to fight before the end of the year. ... David Avanesyan is a very tough task. He's knocked out his last six opponents and this guy is dangerous. Once I'm successful against Avanesyan, my plan is still the same: whup Errol Spence's ass."^[13]

That same day, Spence replied on Twitter stating;

"[He's] been stalling for months I could’ve fought in November... been fighting at this weight for over a decade this shit ain’t easy or fun."^{[‡ 1][‡ 2]}

In December, Crawford defeated Russian boxer Avanesyan via knockout.^[14] In March 2023, Spence and Crawford revealed that they had a roughly 30-minute phone call in February with getting the deal over the line after Spence appeared headed for a fight with American boxer Keith Thurman at 154 pounds.^[15]

On May 23, ESPN reported that Spence vs Crawford agreed to a July 29 deal fight for the undisputed welterweight championship in Las Vegas.^[16] On May 25, it was announced that Spence and Crawford would face each other on July 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada for the WBA Super, WBC, IBF and WBO welterweight titles.^[17]

Fight card

Weight class		vs		Method	Round	Time	Notes
Main Card (PPV)
Welterweight	Terence Crawford (c)	def.	Errol Spence Jr. (c)	TKO	9/12	2:32	^Note 1
Lightweight	Isaac Cruz	def.	Giovanni Cabrera	SD	12		^Note 2
Bantamweight	Alexandro Santiago	def.	Nonito Donaire	UD	12		^Note 3
Junior middleweight	Yoenis Tellez	def.	Sergio García	TKO	3/10	2:01
Preliminary Card
Super middleweight	Steven Nelson	def.	Rowdy Legend Montgomery	UD	10
Lightweight	Jabin Chollet	def.	Michael Portales	TKO	2/6
Super featherweight	Justin Viloria	def.	Pedro Penunuri Borgaro	TKO	4/6	0:41
Lightweight	Demler Zamora	def.	Nikolai Buzolin	UD	8
Welterweight	Deshawn Prather	def.	Kevin Ceja Ventura	UD	6

^Note 1 For WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and vacant The Ring welterweight titles
^Note 2 For WBC Silver and vacant WBO Latino lightweight title
^Note 3 For vacant WBC bantamweight title

Broadcasting

Country/Region	Broadcaster
	Free	Cable TV	PPV	Stream
United States (host)	—		Showtime PPV
Australia	—		Main Event
France	—	RMC Sport	—	RMC BFM Play
Ireland	—		TNT Sports Box Office
United Kingdom
Japan	—	Wowow	—	Wowow on Demand
Latin America	—	ESPN	—	Star+
Mexico	Azteca 7	—		TV Azteca Deportes
Panama	RPC	—		Medcom GO
Poland	TVP Sport	—		TVP Go
Sub-saharan Africa	—	SuperSport	—	DStv Now
Worldwide (unsold markets)	—		FITE^[b]
			Fight Sports

Notes

1. Listed by BoxRec as southpaw, but regularly switch-hits as an orthodox.
2. Spence Jr. vs Crawford coverage on FITE only available in Albania, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji islands, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, and Ukraine.

References

1. "BoxRec: Errol Spence Jr". BoxRec. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
2. "BoxRec: Terence Crawford". BoxRec. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
3. "Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford to fight for undisputed welterweight championship July in Las Vegas". Sky Sports. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
4. Ferguson, Kerr (August 3, 2023). "Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr PPV Numbers Reported". boxing-social.com. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
5. Perez, A. J. (August 3, 2023). "Crawford-Spence Bout Nets Around 700K PPV Buys". Front Office Sports. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
6. "Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Meet Face To Face in Oklahoma". Boxing Scene. November 17, 2018.
7. Katzowitz, Josh (April 20, 2019). "Terence Crawford Scores Bizarre TKO Win Vs. Amir Khan (Video)". Forbes.
8. "Crawford vs Brook: Terence Crawford stops Kell Brook in fourth round of world welterweight title fight". Sky Sports. November 15, 2021.
9. Rafael, Dan (October 10, 2019). "Errol Spence Jr. seriously injured in Dallas car crash". ESPN.
10. Agencies (April 17, 2022). "Errol Spence Jr stops Ugás to set up four-belt showdown with Terence Crawford". The Guardian.
11. Coppinger, Mike (September 15, 2022). "Sources: Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford agree to terms for potential Nov. 19 megafight". ESPN.
12. Nam, Sean (November 16, 2022). "Hearn Says He Has 'Bit of Sympathy' For Haymon in Spence-Crawford Negotiations". Boxing Scene.
13. Coppinger, Mike (October 20, 2022). "Welterweight Terence Crawford to fight David Avanesyan on Dec. 10". ESPN.
14. Baby, Ben (December 11, 2022). "Terence Crawford stops David Avanesyan to keep welterweight belt". ESPN.
15. Copperinger, Mike (July 28, 2023). "How Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford finally came to fruition". ESPN.
16. Coppinger, Mike (May 23, 2023). "Terence Crawford, Errol Spence Jr. set to fight July 29 in Vegas". ESPN.
17. "Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford to fight for undisputed welterweight championship July in Las Vegas". Sky Sports. May 25, 2023.

Primary sources

In the text these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):

1. "Nigga been stalling for months I could've fought in November …". Twitter. October 20, 2022.
2. "Been fighting at this weight for over a decade this shit ain't easy or fun". Twitter. October 20, 2023.