Terence Crawford embellished his claims to be boxing’s pound-for-pound king with a ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence to unify the welterweight division.
After years in the making, Crawford and Spence came together in the ring in Las Vegas.
Such was the quality of both fighters, many respected judges were unable to call a winner beforehand.
But it proved a one-sided contest as Crawford dominated throughout, dropping Spence three times, before the referee stepped in to stop the fight in the ninth round.
The victory took Crawford’s record to a perfect 40-0 – as he became the first four-belt unanimous welterweight champion in history – while it was the first defeat in Spence’s 29-fight career.
“Like I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion,” Crawford said. “I am an overachiever.
“Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer.
“I want to thank Spence and his team, as without him none of this would be possible.
“They said I was not good enough and that I could not beat these top welterweights. I just kept my head to the sky and that I would get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is, and tonight I showed how great I am.”
Terrence Crawford knocks down Errol Spence during their bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States on July 29, 2023.
Image credit: Getty Images
Crawford dominated from the first bell, and put Spence on the floor for the first time in his career in the second round.
Spence was put on the canvas on two further occasions in the seventh round, before referee Harvey Dock stepped in to end the contest in the ninth.
Crawford said he executed his plan of taking away Spence’s jab to perfection, as he became the first male fighter to be an undisputed champion at two weight divisions.
“Errol Spence is a tremendous talent,” Crawford, who was also an undisputed champion at light-welterweight, said. “We were worried about the jab, as that is how he sets up his shots off the jab.
“You take away his best attribute, and in the end the rest is history.”
The loser has the right to a rematch, and Crawford did not rule out them going toe-to-toe again.
“If the fight happens again, I am sure people will come out again and show support for us,” Crawford said.
Spence refused to use weight as an issue for his defeat, and later confirmed he would activate the rematch clause.
“I’m a grown man, I agreed to the weight,” Spence said. “No excuses, hats off to the champion tonight.
“I’m gonna be a lot better, it’s gonna be a lot closer and the fight is gonna be in December at the end of the year, so hell yeah we gotta do it again.”
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