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Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr will put their legacies on the line when they fight for the undisputed welterweight championship on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The champions will clash later tonight with the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO welterweight titles up for grabs.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, it’s finally here. For the first time in the history of the four-belt era, two undefeated boxers with a claim to be undisputed welterweight champion will meet inside the squared circle. This is big-time boxing at its very best.
Credit should go to the networks, the promoters, and indeed the fighters themselves for getting a deal over the line.
As the old saying goes, someone’s ‘0’ has got to go.
Crawford, a three-weight world champion, has won all 39 of his contests to date. Likewise, Spence has also beaten every single opponent he has faced inside the ring.
In Derrick James and Brian MacIntyre, the pair have two of the best coaches in the world in their corners respectively.
Both men have kept things respectful in the build-up to the fight, with neither one of them one to resort to trash-talking their opponent. Of course, a few things have been said here and there, as to be expected, but nothing to detract from the fight itself. After all, they both prefer to let their fists do the talking.
This is as good as it gets, folks. Who will win is as much as anyone’s guess. And if anyone says anything else, well, they’re lying to you.
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Spence vs Crawford
Date: Saturday 29 July
Venue: The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Fight time: Ring walks for the main event are expected around 4am (UK time)
TV/live stream:The fight will be shown live on TNT Sports Box Office. You can also stream it on the BT Sport app. It costs £19.99 on pay-per-view.
Undercard highlights: Slim pickings at best, but Isaac Cruz vs Giovanni Cabrera should be a fun scrap (for as long as it lasts)
i predicts: Crawford to win by unanimous decision
Full card (subject to change):
Isaac Cruz vs Giovanni Cabrera
Nonito Donaire vs Alexandro Santiago
Yoenis Tellez vs Sergio Garcia
Steven Nelson vs Rowdy Montgomery
Jose Salas Reyes vs Aston Palicte
Jabin Chollet vs Michael Portales
Justin Viloria vs Pedro Borgaro
Demler Zamora vs Nikolai Buzolin
Kevin Ceja Ventura vs DeShawn Prather
Crawford: Beating Spence will make me ‘undisputed’ pound-for-pound No 1
Crawford has held the WBO welterweight belt since June 2018 (Photo: Getty)
Terence Crawford believes victory over Errol Spence Jr will establish him at the top of the pecking order.
The pair will collide for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world.
Crawford, the WBO titleholder, will challenge Spence for his WBA, WBC and IBF belts, as well as the prestige of being the Ring Magazine champion.
And he insists that a win over Spence will settle any debate about who is the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet.
“Well I’m already pound-for-pound No 1 I feel in my eyes,” Crawford told reporters, including i, during a media roundtable on Monday.
“I feel like a win over Errol Spence Jr will hold me undisputed pound-for-pound No 1 in everyone’s eyes and there will be no debate.
“They say he’s the big bad wolf, but come fight night we’re gonna find out if he’s all that he says he is.”
Crawford went on to say that he has a tremendous amount of respect for Spence, and revealed that they both kept their egos in check when they discussed terms.
“It was nothing like that. It was all business,” he added.
“It means a lot given the history on the line. But at the same time there’s a lot of fights in the history of boxing that didn’t happen.
“I wouldn’t be the first and I wouldn’t be the last that if the fight didn’t happen that people would be talking about fights that didn’t happen. It would just be another fight on the list that didn’t happen at the time.”
TNT Sports Box Office will show Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford exclusively live on Saturday 29th July. Learn more at https://www.tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice
Any other business
Conor Benn says he has been cleared by UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) despite failing two drug tests in 2022.
Amir Khan has confirmed he will take part in an exhibition bout against “one of the biggest names in boxing”.
Devin Haney and Regis Prograis have reportedly agreed terms to a super-lightweight title fight in October.
