LAS VEGAS – Errol Spence Jr. walked away from his ringside seat Saturday night as the crowd booed loudly while he was shown on the big screen above the ring at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Terence Crawford isn’t overly concerned with whether Spence will walk away from their long-awaited showdown, too. The unbeaten WBO welterweight champion reiterated during his post-fight press conference later Saturday night that he isn’t nearly as preoccupied with opposing Spence as most fans and media.

“Man, like I said before, man, I don’t need Spence,” Crawford said after he dropped Shawn Porter twice and stopped him in the 10th round. “You know, I been the number one guy in the division since I came here. You know, three-time, you know, three-weight world champion. You know what I mean? Like undisputed world champion [in the junior welterweight division]. You know, coming in the welterweight division, my first fight, and win a title [from Jeff Horn]. Like the things that I been doing in my whole career is nothing compared to Spence. You know, not to take nothing away from him. You know, he’s unified and whatnot. But like I said, it is what it is at the end of the day.”

Crawford can make a stronger case for earning the distinction as boxing’s best in the 147-pound division now that he has stopped Porter. Though the 34-year-old Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) beat three undefeated challengers by technical knockout in his first five welterweight fights, Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) is commonly considered the most imposing opponent Crawford fought since he moved up from the junior welterweight division early in 2018.

Spence beat Porter before Crawford stopped him, but only by split decision in September 2019 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Porter suffered an 11th-round knockdown during that 12-round bout, but the former IBF and WBC 147-pound champion made it to the final bell. Judges Rey Danesco (116-111) and Steve Weisfeld (116-111) scored eight rounds apiece for Spence, but judge Larry Hazzard Jr. scored their 147-pound title unification fight for Porter, 115-112.

All three judges – Weisfeld (86-85), Dave Moretti (86-85) and Max De Luca (87-84) – had Crawford ahead of Porter entering that fateful 10th round of their ESPN Pay-Per-View main event. Crawford’s definitive victory should generate even more interest among consumers to finally witness Crawford-Spence, but Crawford doesn’t see Spence’s attendance Saturday night as a sign that the IBF/WBC champion is more inclined than before to finally fight him.

“Well, if you know what I said, why you keep askin’ me?,” Crawford told a reporter who asked him a follow-up question late Saturday night about boxing Spence. “How many fights did I go [to] of his? Did he make any gestures to fight me, to call me out or say, ‘Let’s get in the ring?’ Nothing changes.”

The 31-year-old Spence was supposed to face Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao on August 21 at T-Mobile Arena. Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) withdrew from that FOX Sports Pay-Per-View fight 11 days before it was scheduled to take place due to a retina injury that required immediate surgery.

The DeSoto, Texas, native has returned to the gym, though, and expects to fight at some point within the first half of 2022.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.