By Sam Volz: Showtime released the video today showing Terence Crawford & Errol Spence Jr talking immediately after their fight last Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The 36-year-old Crawford was gracious, letting Spence know how appreciative he was to be given this shot against, as he likely would have remained an unknown to casual boxing fans for the remainder of his career if not for this opportunity given to him.
Showing his class, the newly crowned undisputed welterweight champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) thanked Errol (28-1, 22 KOs) for the opportunity he’d given to him, as Spence had basically sacrificed a year & half of his career slowly negotiating with Crawford.
Spence could have fought three times and arguably made more money combined than what he got last Saturday night, but he was focusing on his legacy and wanted to fight Crawford to try and capture the undisputed championship.
Now the question is will Crawford be able to take advantage of his popularity, or will he return to his old ways of fighting just once a year against obscure opposition that doesn’t move the needle?
There is a rematch clause in the contract, but it remains to be seen whether Spence will use it after the way he was beaten. He’s talked about wanting to fight Crawford in December, but that was before he’d spoken to PBC, his family & friends about it.
If Spence doesn’t take the rematch, Crawford needs to get to work and fight again this year against the best possible opponent, even if it means moving up to 160. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis says he wants to fight Crawford, but it’s unclear if that’s the biggest fight possible for him.
Crawford’s conversation with Spence after the fight
Terence Crawford: “If it wasn’t for you, this would never have happened. So I appreciate you. You’re a helluva fighter; you already know that. I appreciate this opportunity.”
If Spence had chosen not to fight Crawford, he would have left him in the brought spot where he would need to decide whether to move up to 154 or stay at 147 and continue defending his WBO belt.
“Errol Spence is and was an amazing fighter. He beat a lot of very good fighters, great fighters, to become world champion, and I’ve known him for quite a while,” said Kenny Porter to Fight Hub TV.
“I’ve traveled all the world, all over the world with Errol, and I’ve seen him up close and personal. That was very hard for me to watch.
“It was really, really hard for me to see him losing the way he was losing to someone, and it was bittersweet because I love Terence, but I was betting on the other guy.
“I thought the other guy had this, but moving forward, if you’re telling me that it’s anybody at any point in time, I got Bud. I’m sure he’s [Spence] feeling down; anybody would be. I tell him the things he already knows about himself.
“He’s a great fighter, he’s a great father, and he’s a great person. If you ever knew him or talked to him just as a person, not as about boxing, and you were just hanging out with him, being around him, he’s a really good person.
From that standpoint, you gravitate to people like that, a regular guy. He’s a country kid. He’s a Texas kid. He’s just a regular person from that standpoint. But just take the time off and enjoy the family time that you have.”
Spence needs to take his time
“Don’t rush, don’t second guess yourself of who you are or who you’ve been all these years because you’ve been an undefeated champion for a reason,” said Kenny.
“Not to take away from anything that Bud did that night, but Errol is a great fighter. It’s just this guy elevated himself to another level, and on that night, it wasn’t Errol’s night, and that’s what I would say.
“Wins, losses, they come with being bosses. So Errol was a boss, and the other guy was a boss, and at some point in time, someone moves on, and it just happened, and you need to get back to being yourself, and if he decides to do this again, he’s going to be great.
“If he doesn’t decide to do this again, he’s still great. He’s a Hall of Fame fighter, no doubt about that. You just ran into another guy that’s on a Hall of Fame fighter as well, and it’s just he had an unbelievable night.
“I couldn’t believe it, and this is not to be negative towards the guy that didn’t get the victory. I’m not going to even say anything about the guy that didn’t get his hand raised, but the other guy just did some things that were just unbelievable to this guy, who was a great fighter.”
Crawford raised the bar
“Errol Spence is a great fighter. He’s an excellent fighter. This guy raised the bar even higher and did things that just were unbelievable and left you at the end of it saying, ‘Man, did that really happen that way?’ I shook my head a couple of times. Two or three times, I shook my head. It took me a couple of days.
“Wow, man, I did not expect that. He made it look easy. I want to watch it on television, but it almost looked like he didn’t break a sweat,” said Kenny about Crawford. I’m pretty sure he never had to take a deep breath. I’m positive about that.
“Do you know how they say this in boxing, ‘He got my second win.’ No, he didn’t have to get a second win. This is like the Legend of Crawford. Well, you’re never going to forget.
“If you were at the fights, if you were at a bar, if you were at a fight party, wherever you were at, you’re never going forget where you were at that night,” said Kenny Porter about Crawford’s win over Spence.
