Errol Spence Jr delivers honest verdict on Terence Crawford

On July 29, 2023, Terence Crawford faced Errol Spence Jr for the undisputed welterweight titles at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

At the time, it was a career-best performance from “Bud” as he pummelled Spence, stopping him in round nine to become the undisputed welterweight champion. Spence has never fought again, but Crawford has defeated Israil Madrimov and, most recently, Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight champion. 

Spence spoke to the media following Vergil Ortiz’s win over Erickson Lubin and praised his old rival while discussing his place among the greatest boxers of all time.

Errol Spence Jr praises Terence Crawford after historic win

Crawford’s career has continued to grow since his win over Spence in 2023. His victory over Madrimov was tough but deserved. His performance against Alvarez was legacy-defining. He boxed well throughout, picking his moments to engage. He controlled the distance and tempo for the majority, winning by unanimous decision, with scorecards of 116-112, and 115-113 x2.

Reflecting on Crawford’s win over Canelo, Spence said: “Crawford did his thing, he looked good. He looked strong and carried the weight well. He looked good. I can’t say nothing bad about it.”

Spence was then asked if he was shocked by how Crawford defeated Canelo, given he had to come up effectively three weight classes:

“Nah, I wasn’t shocked. Canelo’s not a big guy anyway. Canelo started at 147 and came up to 168. I feel like Crawford walks around at 169, 170ish, or whatever, so I feel like it was kind of easy for him to make the weight. He looked good. He handled it well,” said the former unified welterweight champion.

Asked if Crawford belonged among the greatest fighters of all time, Spence said: “He is one of the greats, for sure.”

Terence Crawford’s future

It remains to be seen what Terence “Bud” Crawford will do next. Looking at the super middleweight division, it’s hard to see a big enough fight for him. The most likely options appear to be for him to drop down to 160 and face the winner of Jannibek Alimkhanuly vs Erislandy Lara, before facing WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames for all four middleweight belts.

Crawford could wait for the winner of Alimkhanuly vs Lara to face Adames, and then fight the winner for all four belts, meaning Crawford could become undisputed in a fourth weight class, creating even more history.