Squeezing his body down to 147lbs, is the phrase that doesn’t exactly exude confidence as far as unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr should be concerned. One more fight, two more sleeps away, and he’ll get what he has longed for: a shot at WBO champion Terence Crawford. But what happens if he loses, and wants to activate that rematch clause? Leverage lost.
I’ve outgrown 147, I would want rematch at 154
Errol Spence Jr (c) vs. Terence Crawford (c) for WBA, IBF, WBC, WBO welterweight titles
Live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Estimated ringwalks around Sunday, 4am BST – Showtime PPV in US, TNT Sports Box Office in UK
- “I’ve got a nutritionist and dietician to make sure I’m eating the right foods, but it’s definitely hard and a struggle. This is the last time, definitely – I’m a lot older, not as young as I used to be, so you know, you can’t be puttin’ your body through that much to fight,” Spence on the motivation for his desire to move up to light-middleweight, having been at 147lbs for over a decade
- In a battle of two unbeaten world champions, Crawford can become a two-weight undisputed titlist should he prevail in Saturday’s long-awaited megafight at welterweight – Bud began his career at 135lbs and made two WBO world lightweight title defences before moving up
- The weight limit in a rematch will be decided by the victor. Crawford has previously claimed he wants to test his greatness at 154lbs against Spence’s stablemate and friend Jermell Charlo – who holds undisputed status in that division but is slated to face Canelo Álvarez on Sept. 30
So, it’s finally here.
Two unbeaten world champions put it all on the line – for the second time this week – in what most are rightly describing as the sport’s biggest fight of the year.
Given how long we’ve had to wait and worry, failed negotiations and interim fights bubbling elsewhere in the interim, that feels like an understatement.
After today’s fiery final press conference, there will be no more mud-slinging from their respective trainers, Derrick James and Brian ‘Bo Mac’ McIntyre.
They’ll weigh-in tomorrow, and count down the hours before the biggest bout of their respective lives takes place this weekend in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world. But as Stephen Fulton found out in Tokyo on Tuesday, neither dare lose.
Besides setting social media ablaze with unflattering memes, reactionary statements and more between the two fanbases – especially if one is a definitive winner – there’s the bilateral rematch clause as well as what that probably entails in 2024.
Vergil Ortiz Jr’s health issues mean he will likely move up in weight, provided he can recover and finally kick a persistent issue plaguing him over the past two years.
IBF interim champion Jaron Ennis could be upgraded to full world titlist without ever fighting the victor, and it’s looking increasingly likely.
Spence’s comments this week are a big red flag, but no less surprising given he’s consistently hinted at moving up in weight before.
33 and a relatively inactive champion with his arduous history in mind, he would’ve already made the jump had this Crawford clash happened earlier.
It hasn’t, Bud is two years his senior while fighting in a third weight class so naturally giving up size as they tussle for marginal gains.
Overinflating physique and frame tripped many critics up when previewing Naoya Inoue’s super-bantamweight switch, so we’ll wait and see how they match up there.
Picture source: Getty Images
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