Who’s next for Terence Crawford? Errol Spence rematch could be in a different division

Terence Crawford and Errol Spence don’t agree on the weight class of a potential rematch.

By: Anton Tabuena | 1 week ago

Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have a rematch clause on their contracts, but they seem to be disagreeing on the weight division at the moment.

Crawford put on the fight of his life, dominating and repeatedly dropping Spence to become the new undisputed welterweight champion on Saturday night (highlights here). After the contest, Spence and his team expressed interest in a rematch, but he wants to move up a division.

July 29, 2023, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA: Action between WBC, WBA and IBF unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-1 22KOs white black & red) and WBO champion Terence Crawford (40-0 31KOs gray) in a bout for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world. Crawford won the fight by TKO in the 9th round in a sensational performance that say him drop Spence to the canvas multiple times. Las Vegas USA - ZUMAd151 20230729_znp_d151_038 Copyright: xAdamxDelGiudicex
IMAGO / ZUMA / Adam DelGiudice

Errol Spence Jr. wants the rematch at 154 lbs.

Spence remained respectful after the loss and gave Crawford his props, but he did note how he’d want the rematch to happen at 154 lbs.

“It was an off-night. The better man won tonight, and I’m not here to make any excuses,” Spence said at the post-fight press conference. “My timing was off. I couldn’t capitalize. His timing was a lot better than mine tonight.”

“It’s something I’ve got to talk to my management about, but hopefully (the rematch is) at 154,” he said.

“I’m not gonna stew over it at all. I did what I was supposed to do, regardless of the outcome. I promised everybody I was going to do it and I did it as a man. I’m not gonna sulk over this, I’ll get right back and get to it, hopefully at 154 lbs,” he said. “It was exciting. It’s something that I wouldn’t change for nothing. I’m definitely open to the rematch, and hopefully it’ll be at 154 lbs.”

Terence Crawford open to rematch at a higher division?

With their contracted rematch clause, the loser in Errol Spence gets to decide to activate it, while the winner in Terence Crawford has the say in the weight class. If it does proceed, Crawford does seem open to the idea of facing Spence at 154 lbs.

“It definitely don’t have to be at ‘47,” Crawford said. “Like I said, I’m in the hurt business. ‘47 was hard for me too. I was already talking about moving up in weight and challenging Charlo, so 54’ wouldn’t be out of reach for anything.”

Who’s next for Crawford and Spence?

The lucrative super-fight was years in the making. It’s very early to really tell if they’d finalize a rematch, but for what it’s worth, despite the fight ending up pretty lopsided, a repeat would likely still be big business for the two boxing superstars.

There is also a different option though. With both men also talking about the possibility of competing at 154 lbs, there would also be a big money fight waiting there, involving the division’s undisputed champion in Jermell Charlo.

Terence Crawford drops Errol Spence.
IMAGO / Tom Hogan

Editor’s note: We fixed an error on the earlier transcript of Crawford’s quotes about how the rematch definitely “don’t” have to be at 147 lbs.

Join the Bloody Elbow Substack!

Support Bloody Elbow, and get exclusive content.

Share this story

About the author
Anton Tabuena
Anton Tabuena

Anton Tabuena is the Managing Editor for Bloody Elbow. He’s been covering MMA and combat sports since 2009, and has also fought in MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.

More from the author

Bloody Elbow Podcast
Related Stories