By Dane McGuire
A combat sports double header of both boxing and UFC action had fans on their feet from the word go thanks to sweet science veteran Terence Crawford.
Crawford led his dance with Errol Spence Jr early, putting him on the canvas for the first time in his career during round two of a scheduled 12. He followed that with two more knockdowns in the seventh frame before the referee called an end to the bout in the ninth round. Referee Harvey Dock waved off the fight at the 2:32 mark.
With the victory, Crawford made history by becoming the first man to win the undisputed 147-pound championship and capture all four major titles in two divisions. He then did not hold back with his post fight comments.
“They tried to blackball me,” Crawford said. “They kept me out. They kept me out. They talked bad about me. They said I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t beat these top welterweights. I just kept my head to the sky and I kept praying to God that I’d get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is. Tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.”
“Man, I’m so blessed,” Crawford added. “I swear, I swear, like I said before, I always dreamed of being a world champion. I’m an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up. I made everybody a believer.”
Despite the lopsided showing, Spence Jr believes a follow-up bout will take place at some point in the future. Spence would like the sequel to be at 154 pounds or possibly a catchweight.
Spence Jr has 30 days to exercise his contractual right to an immediate rematch, but Crawford can dictate the weight limit for their second bout. He had told BoxingScene.com earlier in the week this would be his last welterweight fight because of the difficult weight cut.
“Hell yeah, we’ve got to do it again,” Spence said post-fight. “I’m going to be a lot better. It’s going to be a lot closer, it’s probably going to be in December, before the end of the year.”
“He was the better man tonight,” Spence Jr said. “He was using his jab. And my timing was a little bit off and you know he was catching me in between shots. “He was just better tonight. I make no excuses.”
Crawford seems open to another go ‘round as well despite having things well in hand pretty much from the opening bell.
“Of course, the public would buy it,” he said. “Look how many people came out to show me and Errol Spence support. … If the fight happens again, I’m pretty sure everybody would show up again and show us support.”