[ad_1]
WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford 39-0 (30) has revealed how a direct conversation with WBC, WBA and IBF counterpart Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-0 (22) kick-started negotiations for their long awaited four-belt unification fight that will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 29.
Negotiations for the fight were underway last year but eventually fell apart, much to the dismay of fight fans. At the time it seemed like the highly anticipated bout would never take place.
Sometimes in boxing there are too many cooks on the kitchen. The boxers themselves were determined to make the bout happen and took matters into their own hands.
“This time around felt completely different. You know, me and Errol we actually got on the phone and we both agreed that we both were going to do our best to make sure this fight happened. And we got it done,” Crawford told The MMA Hour.
“We here now, we’re about to put on, you know, one of the best welterweight showdowns and in a long time. I called him, I’m like ‘hey listen, man, let’s get it on’ and he was like he was all for it, so we both had the same mission, the same goal, to become undisputed welterweight champion of the world and make history.”
The bout has all the hallmarks of something special. Two undefeated fighters at the top of their game. Both can box and both can punch. And both know what victory will do for their legacy.
Asked on ESPN’s First Take whether his bout against Crawford would be an instant classic, Spence replied: “The proof is in the pudding. You see Terence Crawford and his body of work. You see my body of work.”
Texan Spence, 33, is promising to take the fight to Crawford – a notoriously slow starter – from the opening bell.
“Everybody already know as soon as I get in the ring I’m stepping,” he said. “I expect him to step too. We gonna put on a great show and a great performance.”
Spence has made six successful title defences of the IBF 147-pound title he won against Kell Brook in England six years ago. He added Shawn Porter’s WBC belt to his collection of hardware in 2019 and lifted Yordenis Ugas’s WBA strap in his last fight in April last year.
The 35-year-old Crawford, a switch-hitter from Omaha, Nebraska, is already a three-weight world champion and former undisputed champion at junior welterweight.
He claimed the WBO belt with a nine round beatdown of Australia’s Jeff Horn five years ago in his 147-pound debut. He has since defended the title six times on his road to undisputed.
The Spence-Crawford clash will be the biggest fight in the division since Floyd Mayweather Jr faced Manny Pacquaio eight years ago.
[ad_2]
Source link