Once Terence “Bud” Crawford decided not to fight Errol Spence Jr. and decided to cherry-pick a fight with David Avanesyan for a $10 million check, Spence was left without an opponent for the winter.
To add insult to injury, Spence Jr. got into another car accident, pushing his return even further.
He is almost fully recovered from that accident and is close to announcing his fight with a man he said he would never fight, Keith Thurman.
There are some interesting stipulations, according to ESPN.
Errol Spence and Keith Thurman are finalizing a deal for a PBC on PPV fight that is expected to take place in April, sources told ESPN.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) holds three of the four major titles at welterweight, but this matchup will take place at junior middleweight, sources said. WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told ESPN that he granted Spence a special permit to fight outside the weight class without relinquishing his 147-pound title (he also holds the IBF and WBC belts.)
Spence will have 60 days from the fight, Mendoza said, to close a deal for a long-awaited undisputed welterweight championship bout with Terence Crawford (they were engaged in negotiations last year). If not, Spence must defend his 147-pound title against the winner of the postponed WBA “regular” title fight between Vergil Ortiz and Eimantas Stanionis. Spence, 32, could also decide to campaign at 154 pounds moving forward.
The junior middleweight division is short on name recognition outside of Jermell Charlo, the undisputed champion who shares a trainer with Spence in Derrick James.
The reason Spence routinely said he wouldn’t give Thurman a title shot is that when Thurman was the WBC champion, he refused to provide Spence with a title shot even though Spence was the #1 contender.
Since this would be a nontitle fight, they would be fighting for pride and for Spence to knock off the ring rust.
The earliest you could see Spence-Crawford would be in the fall, but don’t hold your breath on that happening.
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