The much-discussed bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford slipped away once Crawford opted to face David Avanesyan instead on Dec. 10.

That night, Crawford scored a spectacular knockout-of-the-year contender against Avanesyan in Nebraska. Meanwhile, in the Dallas area, Spence was involved in a freak car accident involving a 14-year-old unlicensed driver. Spence’s car was totaled, and he said his leg was injured. 

Fast forward to Dec. 16, when Spence was in Las Vegas to promote understudy Frank Martin’s bout against Michel Rivera, the WBC, WBA, and IBF welterweight champion Spence did a walk-and-talk interview with a group of media members. 

“I didn't get to see [the Crawford-Avanesyan fight] but I seen the highlights. He looked. Terence always looked good. [The knockout] was nasty,” said Spence. 

When Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) was further pressed around the subject of a Crawford fight finally happening in 2023, Spence was less definitive than he has been throughout the year to finally fight the Nebraskan native.  

“Next year, anything can happen. I don't know man, I'm not going to worry about it too much. If it happens, it happens. If it don't, it don't,” said Spence. 

“We'll see man, we'll see. The great thing is that I got helluh options. I never say I aint fight nobody. Sh!t -- I'll fight whoever.”

One of Spence’s options appears to be Keith Thurman. 

A February fight against the former welterweight champion Thurman was in play ever since Crawford went his own way, but due to Spence's injury, the Texan is now expecting to return in either April, May, or June, Spence stated on Dec. 17. 

As negotiations around Spence’s return to the ring get dragged out, the 32-year-old, career-long welterweight can’t wait much longer to fight in the only division he’s ever competed in.

“I'm getting older. It's getting harder to make 147,” said Spence. 

Spence last fought in April and scored a 10th-round TKO win against Yordenis Ugas.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.