Before they even fought in the same weight class, a showdown between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford was slowly cooking up.

Roughly six years ago, Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) stood in the center of the ring with the IBF, WBO, WBC, WBA, and Ring Magazine super lightweight titles draped all over his shoulders. Spence, just a few months prior, won the first of his three belts.

There was something about Spence and Crawford that drew them to one another. Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford’s hometown, and Dallas, Texas, the neck of the woods Spence hails from, produce completely different lives and different feels. Yet, with the two finally ending their five-year song and dance, Spence recently admitted that Crawford, in a way, is his pugilistic soulmate.

“He’s my dancing partner and I’m his dancing partner,” said Spence on The Pivot Podcast. “We’re meant for each other.”

They won’t be holding hands or discussing future goals over a candlelit dinner. Instead, they’ll lace up their gloves and attempt to take each other’s heads off. Their July 29th date is special and Spence knows it.

Boxing history is littered with showdowns just like Spence vs. Crawford. Remember how dominant Muhammad Ali was back in his day? It wasn’t until he was pushed to his limit in three brutal fights against Joe Frazier that he was truly able to prove his greatness. Manny Pacquiao is another Hall of Fame great. Sure he was embroiled in a ton of all-time classics, but his four clashes against Juan Manuel Marquez pushed him to another level.

For a number of years now, boxing fans grew to accept that Crawford and Spence would merely bark and shout from behind closed fences. Spence though, couldn’t go through the rest of his career without facing him. Whatever time he had left in the sport and the accomplishments he would have achieved wouldn't have been enough to erase the indelible black eye of not facing Crawford.

The list of all-time great fights that have defined the sport is burned permanently into the mind of Spence. Considering the magnitude of their undisputed welterweight showdown, there was simply no way in hell Spence planned on eschewing Crawford. His pride and history wouldn’t allow it.

“This is one of those legendary fights. This is like Sugar Ray not fighting Tommy Hearns or Tommy Hearns not fighting Marvin Hagler. It had to happen.”