Assuming they remain unbeaten champions, Errol Spence Jr. won’t allow himself to leave the welterweight division without fighting Terence Crawford.
Spence says he wants that highly anticipated, title unification fight as much as Crawford. It just can’t happen, according to Spence, until everyone involved is paid properly for what would be a joint pay-per-view venture between ESPN and FOX Sports and a promotional collaboration between Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.
The 30-year-old Spence discussed the Crawford fight with Brian Custer for the newest episode of the Showtime broadcaster’s podcast, “The Last Stand.”
“He wants the fight,” Spence said of Crawford. “You know, I wants the fight. You know, I think it will happen. It’s just a matter of time, I think. I’d say, you know, we wanna fight. But, you know, with Bob Arum and, you know, Al Haymon and, you know, and everybody else – I call ‘em the guys in the suits. What the guys in the suits really, you know, want, they want it to make sense money-wise. You know, they wanna make sure everybody get they slice, everybody get their fair share. You know, so they wanna make sure that’s right before, you know, before the fight happens.
“You know, I think that’s the same thing with Floyd and Pacquiao. They didn’t fight until the money was so big, you know, they had to fight. So, I mean, everybody wanna make sure the money’s right and everybody get their fair slice. And then, you know, the fight will happen. And so, it’ll definitely happen. I mean, it’ll definitely happen. It’s just a matter of when.”
When Mayweather and Pacquiao finally fought, that HBO/Showtime Pay-Per-View event generated in excess of $600 million in overall revenue. Approximately 4.6 million U.S. consumers purchased their unremarkable bout, which Mayweather won by unanimous decision in May 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Crawford-Spence obviously isn’t as big as Mayweather-Pacquiao, but it is probably boxing’s most anticipated fight outside of the heavyweight division.
Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), a southpaw from DeSoto, Texas, is expected to return to the ring sometime in the fall. The IBF/WBC champion could face former WBC champ Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs) in Spence’s first fight since suffering cuts to his face and body and dental damage in a one-car accident October 10 in Dallas.
Like Spence, the 32-year-old Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) would welcome a fight against Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao next. The Omaha, Nebraska, native is more likely, however, to fight someone other than Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) whenever the WBO champion fights again.
–boxingscene.com
