How Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford finally came to fruition

Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford argued in the bowels of Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City in 2018, an otherwise ordinary back-and-forth exchange that went on to hold outsized significance to boxing fans everywhere.

A matchup between two of boxing’s best fighters was ripe on that November evening nearly five years ago, but for a variety of reasons since that day, the bout couldn’t be delivered. Fans instead settled for years as Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) and Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) fought each other with incendiary words outside the ring as a multitude of issues prevented a matchup from materializing.

It’s rare for two undefeated elite boxers like Spence and Crawford to campaign at the same weight at the same time. Both in their prime and near the top of the pound-for-pound list. But the politics of boxing stood in the way. Crawford was with Top Rank and Spence with PBC, promotional companies that rarely conduct business with each other.

A deal finally seemed on the precipice of reality last September, only for talks to collapse at the 11th hour. Spence seemed destined to move up to 154 pounds for a summer bout against former unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman, perhaps once and for all denying the sport a welterweight summit meeting with Crawford.

Fortunately, the fighters took matters into their own hands. Crawford said he pushed the fight negotiations forward with a lengthy phone call in March and set the wheels in motion for what is arguably the most relevant boxing match since Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

“I knew I had to make it happen,” Spence, 33, said at his media workout last week in Las Vegas. “This is what everyone wanted. We have to prove who the man is in the welterweight division and in boxing. The winner of this fight is the best fighter in boxing. Period.”

No, Spence and Crawford won’t come close to matching the astronomical revenue generated by Mayweather and Pacquiao, records that stand today, but unlike Mayweather and Pacquiao, both all-time greats, it can be argued that Spence and Crawford, 35, are peaking athletically.