Errol Spence Jr. took almost all of the time he was officially afforded, but he exercised his contractual right to an immediate rematch with Terence Crawford.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed multiple reports that Spence and Crawford will fight a second time.
Neither the date nor the weight has been set.
Spence declared both in the ring after his one-sided, ninth-round, technical-knockout loss July 29 and during their post-fight press conference that he would fight Crawford a second time. Their 12-round rematch could take place prior to the end of 2023, yet it also could be scheduled for some time early in 2024.
The former IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion made it clear that he wants their second fight to be contested at the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds because he struggled so much to get down to the welterweight maximum of 147 pounds. Crawford said he was fine with moving up seven pounds for their second Showtime Pay-Per-View main event as well.
According to his contractual clause, Spence had 30 business days from July 29 to officially decide whether he wanted a rematch.
As the winner of their welterweight title unification fight, Crawford was obligated to grant Spence an immediate rematch if Spence wanted it. Crawford can dictate the weight limit for their second fight, though.
Spence-Crawford was one of the most anticipated showdowns in boxing and crowned Crawford as the first fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era.
The fight itself defied expectations because it wasn’t the least bit competitive. Crawford dominated Spence after the first round in what was a career-defining performance for the three-weight world champion.
Crawford, 35, dropped Spence once in the second round and twice during the seventh round. The Omaha, Nebraska native battered Spence again during the ninth round, when referee Harvey Dock understandably stepped between them to prevent Spence from taking more punishment last month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) was way ahead of Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Judges Tim Cheatham, David Sutherland and Steve Weisfeld all scored seven of the first eight rounds for Crawford, who was ahead 79-70 on each of their cards entering the ninth round.
Spence, 33, suffered his first defeat since the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The DeSoto, Texas native had owned the IBF welterweight title for six years before Crawford defeated him.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
