Errol Spence Jr will be relinquishing his welterweight titles & moving up to 154 if he successfully defeats Terence Crawford this Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) looked unhealthy thin & draw during yesterday’s final press conference, and he sounded weak, like he needed rest.
It’s going to take a lot out of Spence to make weight today, but he’ll do it because he’s a professional and working with experts to help him make the 147.
What could delay Spence’s move up to 154 is if the rematch clause states that the second fight must take place at 147.
That’s not going to benefit Crawford to have the second fight at welterweight, especially if he loses on Saturday because he looked just as drained as Spencee, if not more.
The 36-year-old Crawford needs to move up to 154 just as badly as Spence, and if he chooses to stay at the weight, he could wind up as food for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, who is arguably a younger, stronger & better version than Terence.
Spence ready to move up to 154
“After that, I paid my obligations to the welterweight division. It’s time to move up, and it’ll be strap season all over again,” said Errol Spence Jr to Showtime during the final press conference on Thursday.
It might not be strap season for Errol if he moves up to 154 because his gym-mate & friend Jermell Charlo still holds all four titless at junior middleweight.
If Jermell chooses to hold onto all belts, despite selfishly moving up to pick up a bag from Canelo Alvarez at 168, it’s going to put thee, 33-year-old Spence, in a position where he’ll need to wait for one of the titles to be vacated or get in line.
It could be a long, long wait for Spence before he gets a title shot, as Jermell only fights once a year, and he has been doing that since 2020.
Jermell be done for this year after getting a big payday against Canelo, and if he chooses to return to 154, he has his WBO mandatory obligation to defend against Tim Tszyu next year.
On the other hand, with Spence’s popularity, he’s now above the belts, so he can basically fight for trinket secondary titles, and the casual boxing fans won’t know the difference.
They’ll see him as a champion, no matter what belt is on the line. The sanctioning bodies have polluted the sport with their many titles, devaluing them to the point where it no longer matters if a real belt is on the line for a fight.
“I sat out a year and a half trying to make this fight happen with Terence Crawford to get the other strap,” said Errol.
Most would agree that Spence wasted valuable time waiting on the Crawford negotiations, and he should have washed his hands and moved on.
Spence could have made even more money if he fought twice in the last year against Keith Thurman & Jaron Enniss, and he wouldn’t have lost valuable time dealing with the intractable Crawford.
