Via Chris Williams: In the biggest hint as to where Terence Crawford is going this year, Errol Spence Jr made it clear today that he has two more games left at 147 before moving up to 154.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (27-0.21 KOs) said he finished with a record of 147 after winning the last two titles, which are not in his possession.
Spence will face WBA champion Yordenis Ugas on April 16, and if he wins that match, WBO belt holder Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) will be his final hurdle.
Boxing fans will finally get a chance to see who is the best boxer in the welterweight division. Fans who have raved about how great Crawford is will probably be shocked if Spence reveals him.
“I’m done with this weight,” Errol Spence Jr told DAZN Boxing Show about him rising to 154 after fighting two more times at 147.
“Once I do what I said I would, grab these belts, then move on. I have to hit two more games at 147, and then I’m moving forward. ”
We haven’t seen Crawford get embroiled in any scuffles since he moved up to 147, and it will be interesting to see if he pulls off the task against Spence. Is Crawford sturdy enough to handle a tough fight with Spence for 12 rounds?
We saw Crawford lose the first three rounds before stopping Kell Brook on the super heavy hill in 2020 and being beaten in the fifth round by Egidijus Kavaliauskas in 2019. Those matches show that Crawford is not as good as some fans think. right away.
Spence and Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) will make headlines next month on Showtime pay-per-view at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In theory, this is Spence’s most challenging fight since his win over Shawn Porter in 2019.
The 32-year-old Spence is not said to have deliberately fought Cuban boxer Ugas to give him a handicap like he did with Mikey Garcia and Porter.
Spence’s decision to scuffle with Porter on the inside during their fight in 2019 makes the fight harder if he hits him the way Kell Brook did in 2014.
With Ugas, Spence will have to fight him for a certain amount of time because he has excellent boxing skills, and he will be happy if the competition is at long range.
The 35-year-old Ugas’ best chance of winning is if Spence beats him up rather than using strength, body punches, and inside games to let him down.
Spence says Jermell Charlo can fight at 154
“I think so. If it makes money, why not?” Spence said when asked if he would like to take on IBF/WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo after his promotion to 154.
“We are brothers, so you must break bread. We’ll cross that bridge,” Errol said of his fight with Jermell. It is a discuss so me and Jermell have. If we decide to fight each other, it will be a huge fight in Texas. ”
A fight between Spence and his gym mate and friend Jermell Charlo is very, very unlikely. Those two are too close to each other to fight, and aside from that, Charlo is pretty flawed as a fighter, as we’ve seen in his battles with Brian Castano and Tony Harrison.
Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KOs) deserved to lose in the final match against Castano last July, and Jermell will most likely lose in the rematch on May 14.
The people Spence needs to worry about at 154 are Tim Tszyu, Castano, Erickson Lubin and Israil Madrimov.
“Certainly if 160 lbs makes sense,” Spence said about the possibility of middle class in the future.
