By Chris Williams: Unbeaten welterweights Terence Crawford and Errol Spence trashed talked each other on social media on Sunday in talking about who’s the top dog at 147. WBO champion Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs), who is a newcomer at welterweight and has only one win under his belt against Jeff Horn, started off saying that he runs the shot at 147.
IBF champion Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) told Crawford that he doesn’t truly believe what he’s saying about him being the best. For the record, Spence is considered to be the best fighter by the boxing public for the time being. Until proven otherwise, Crawford is considered the number 2 fighter at welterweight.
“I own the whole block and it don’t matter what side of the street you on,” Crawford said on his social media site.
In response, Spence said this:
”You don’t believe that. Some fighters just on the wrong side of the street.”
Crawford then fired back with this comment to Spence:
”You’ll understand one day and I’m done talking about it,” Crawford said.
The problem that Crawford and Spence have is they’re with different management, which makes it unlikely that they’ll be facing each other anytime soon. They also fight on different networks. Spence fights on Showtime Boxing. For his part, Crawford’s fights are televised on ESPN and ESPN+. For the two of them to face each other, they would need to come over to the other network to fight. That might not be doable.
Crawford is promoted by Top Rank, who rarely works with Spence’s manager Al Haymon. If the two fighters are going to face each other one of these days, it’s going to need to take a lot of tough negotiating for the match to get made. The fight might not attract as much interest as some hardcore boxing fans think it will. With Crawford fighting now on ESPN+, a subscription service, it limits how many boxing fans get a chance to see his fights. Crawford would arguably be better off if his fights were televised on regular ESPN.
Spence has a great opportunity to cement his position as the number one welterweight in the division when he faces Mikey Garcia later this year in November or December. Spence plans on beating Mikey, and then facing the winner of the Danny Garcia vs. Shawn Porter fight to capture the WBC title. Spence is expected to face Keith Thurman in 2019. Crawford’s future outlook doesn’t look nearly as bright. Crawford’s next opponent is supposed to be fellow Top Rank fighter Jose Benavidez. That’s not a fight that will interest the boxing public as much as Spence’s fight against Mikey Garcia or his fights with Thurman and the Danny Garcia vs. Porter fight. Crawford needs Spence to take his career to the next level. Crawford can’t count on Manny Pacquiao fighting him now that he’s no longer with Top Rank.