Terence Crawford Masterclass In Vegas: What’s Next For Both Fighters?

On July 29, we witnessed why Terence “Bud” Crawford is the undisputed king of the welterweight division. Bud controlled the fight from the flash knockdown on Errol Spence Jr in round two. His jab was unbelievably accurate and carried plenty of power throughout. The effective jab from Bud seemed to negate Spence Jr‘s strong jab. Crawford explained post-fight this was a deliberate tactic from him. “We were worried about the jab coming in because that’s how he sets up all of his shots. Our main focus was the jab. You take away his best attribute. The rest is history.”

When The Truth did attack, Crawford‘s destructive counter-punching was there to meet him. Crawford pummeled Spence Jr before the referee waved the fight off in round nine. Crawford is the undisputed king at Welterweight, but what comes next for both fighters?

Terence Crawford vs. Errol Spence Jr Immediate Rematch

One great champion takes his first loss and the other continues, unblemished, rewriting history with every fight onward. @terencecrawford defeats @ErrolSpenceJr to become boxing's first UNDISPUTED welterweight world champion in the 4-belt era. #SpenceCrawford pic.twitter.com/K0v9kDPGVP

— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) July 30, 2023

Options for Both Fighters

If the comments after the fight are anything to go by – it looks like Spence Jr will exercise the option for a rematch, with Spence mentioning December as a possible date in a post-fight interview. “We gotta do it again,” said Spence. “I’m going to be a lot better. It’ll be a lot closer. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. I say we gotta do it again.”

Crawford will decide which weight the rematch would be at. It’s difficult to envisage Bud agreeing to fight Spence at 154 lbs – and even more difficult to imagine The Truth turning the tables on Crawford in a rematch at 147 lbs. Spence Jr is a brilliant fighter, but he met an exceptional fighter, and it’s hard to see anyone at welterweight laying a glove on Crawford. Spence Jr should look at junior middleweight, where there will be opportunities for him against the likes of Tim Tszyu and Jermell Charlo, among others.

What’s Next for Terence Crawford?

Crawford was mesmerising against Spence Jr, and it remains to be seen if Spence Jr will activate the rematch clause available to him. Crawford moves on to 40-0, becoming unified at junior welterweight and welterweight. It appears there are not many options left for Bud at Welterweight. Jaron Ennis is a decent prospect with plenty of ability, but he is not on the same level as Crawford, and the same can be said for Vergil Ortiz. If Crawford did rematch Spence at 154 and was victorious, this could lead to a super fight against undisputed champion Jermell Charlo.

What’s Next for Errol Spence Jr?

Spence Jr mentioned this would be his last contest at 147 lbs, and he would be moving up to junior middleweight. After his devastating loss against Crawford, he mentioned that he wanted the rematch, but ideally at 154 lbs. If Crawford refuses the move to 154, there are options for Spence. He could obtain big fights at junior middleweight – against Tim Tszyu, Brian Castano and Sebastian Fundora. A potential fight against undisputed champion Jermell Charlo could tempt Spence to move up in weight and not activate the rematch clause against Crawford.