Terrence “Bud” Crawford became the undisputed welterweight champion on Saturday night after he dominated Errol Spence Jr. in Las Vegas, and Spence is already looking forward to a rematch.
Crawford knocked Spence down once in Round 2 and twice in Round 7. Referee Harvey Dock ended the fight in Round 9 as Crawford unleashed a flurry of shots and Spence was not adequately defending them. Spence tried to protest the stoppage, but he had lost every round to that point aside from the first one.
Highlights of all three knockdowns, including the stoppage from the #SpenceCrawford fight.
A masterclass performance by #Terence "Bud" #Crawford. Pitched a shutout on the judges cards before the referee stopped the fight in the 9th round.#CrawfordSpence #Boxing pic.twitter.com/o6s9TElGyP
— HunnedPoints (@HunnedPoints) July 30, 2023
“He was the better man tonight,” Spence said after the fight. “He was using his jab, and my timing was a little bit off. He was catching me in between shots. … I make no excuses.”
Both fighters entered the bout undefeated. Crawford improved to 40-0 with 31 knockouts, while Spence is now 28-1 with 22 knockouts. Spence said he is hoping for a rematch later this year.
“We gotta do it again,” the 33-year-old said. “I’m going to be a lot better. It’ll be a lot closer. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. I say we gotta do it again.”
The fight contract between Crawford and Spence has a bidrectional rematch clause that Spence can trigger within 30 days. He is planning to do that. As the winner, Crawford gets to choose whether the rematch takes place at 147 or 154 pounds.
Many were disappointed by how one-sided the bout was considering Crawford and Spence were both undefeated. Spence will have a lot of work to do if he wants to avoid a similar outcome the second time.
