Two of arguably the best welterweights on the planet have been holding low key Facetime sessions.
According to Boxing Scene, Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr. and Terence “Bud” Crawford have been chopping it up recently to do a little trash talk and work on getting a fight between them booked.
“We talk and say how we gonna make this fight happen,” Spence told Dan Rafael for BoxingScene.com.
“We basically go back and forth because I’m my own guy but I don’t handle my own business. So at the end of the day it’s boxing and we both got to get paid for it. I want to get paid for it.”
According to the story, Spence, Jr. estimates that he and Crawford have spoken on the phone or via FaceTime about four times.
Currently, boxing has not admitted fans back into arenas and what once was a vibrant and sprawling landscape of consistency has turned into a gradual restart schedule of boxing events booked.
Spence already has a fight booked against Danny “Swift” Garcia on November 21st. The fight is expected to take place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. However, according to ESPN, Premier Boxing Champions, which promotes both fighters, has put holds on other venues around the country as it monitors the coronavirus pandemic and the guidelines in place for each state.
Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), 30, defeated Shawn Porter by 12-round split decision on Sept. 28 in a tough fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Spence, who has the IBF title, earned the WBC belt with the win. More recently, he was involved in a one-car accident a few weeks later near Dallas and suffered serious injuries, including facial lacerations and a broken jaw.
Spence is ranked No. 1 at welterweight in ESPN’s divisional rankings, and Garcia is No. 6. Manny Pacquiao (WBA) and Terence Crawford (WBO) are the other titleholders in the division.
Terence Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), 32, of Omaha, Nebraska, does not have a fight officially booked yet. However, according to reports, it is likely he will defend his belt against former world champ Kell Brook (39-2, 27 KOs), 34, of England, on Nov. 14 on ESPN from the bubble of the conference center at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Crawford is signed to Top Rank and Spence is with Premier Boxing Champions. The two heads of those promotions, Bob Arum and Al Haymon, respectively, do not have the best relationship but have worked together before to make Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury I & II happen.
Spence said he told Crawford that after he gets past Garcia there is a possible rematch with Shawn Porter.
The two fought a brilliant fight in which, Spence narrowly outpointed Porter to unify the belts last September. But Spence said he can see the fight with Crawford happening next year.
Only one caveat, Spence also wants to fight the legend that is Manny Pacquiao.
“Then there’s nothing left on the table but Terence Crawford,” Spence said. “Who else would it be?
“I think it’s definitely gonna happen. I don’t know when but, hopefully, I feel like it can happen next year. This fight (with Crawford), I’m definitely going to push for it and Terence has been pushing for it too. Even when we talk on the phone or we FaceTime with each other we talk about it and say, ‘Man, it’s definitely gonna happen, but I got to get past the guys in front of me right now. But the fight is definitely gonna happen.’
“I don’t want to leave the division without fighting him because I don’t want that on my legacy — people saying that’s the fight that never happened. Crawford is the most intriguing fight. That’s the legacy fight. I feel like that’s the biggest money fight out there for me too, so it would make sense for it to happen.”
