Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have have struck an agreement to fight for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, according to several sources.
Crawford and Spence will both cash in on eight figures guaranteed for the Showtime PPV fight, sources reported. What’s more is that a bidirectional rematch clause has been included in the deal. It can be triggered 30 days after the initial fight in July.
Terms were negotiated by advisors of both boxers PBC’s Al Haymon and CAA’s Ish Hinson per ESPN. The matchup is expected to be the most anticipated boxing match since Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao, billed as the Fight of the Century, in 2015.
The rematch is part of Crawford’s two-fight deal with PBC, according to ESPN. The probable return bout is required to take place before the end of 2023 before both boxers move up to 154 pounds.
Tuesday’s news of a fight in July comes after several attempts of trying to get both Crawford and Spence inside the same ring, as the two have been dubbed as the world’s two best welterweights over the years without actually having fought each other.
If they each win a fight, then a trilogy fight is likely to be scheduled. And whoever claims victory is expected to go on to fight in the undisputed junior middleweight championship. Jermell Charlo is the tournament’s current defending champion. He and Spence both train with Derrick James in Dallas, Texas.
July’s contest will now determine the world’s best boxer in the world, regardless of weight class even though Crawford and Spence are listed at 147 pounds. That was the first time that Crawford had fought in over a year. The pay-per-view bout was made after negotiations between Crawford and Spence broke down in October.
Crawford, 35, is favorite to win the matchup, coming in first place in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, with Spence three spots behind him at No. 4. He’s undefeated (39-0) and knocked out David Avanesyan in the sixth round in December to retain his WBO welterweight belt.
Spence last fought in April 2022, when he beat Yordenis Ugas in a 10th-round TKO victory in Arlington, Texas, to claim a third welterweight title. Two months later that year, the 33-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated after crashing his speeding Ferrari in 2019.
Prosecutors said that after visiting multiple bars in Dallas, Spence was speeding when his Ferrari veered over the median and flipped several times at about 3 a.m. on October 10, 2019. Spence, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle but didn´t sustain any broken bones or fractures and was treated for facial lacerations.
Spence’s attorneys released a statement on his behalf in which he said that after having some drinks with friends he ‘ended up wrecking my car and nearly killing myself.’ ‘Fortunately, no one else was involved in the accident and I am most grateful for that,’ he said in the statement. ‘It was an incident that would profoundly change my life.’
