Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford are in direct negotiations for an undisputed championship fight at welterweight, and they’ve reportedly agreed on the split.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) and Crawford spoke on the phone. According to Mike Coppinger, a term sheet has already been sent by WBO welterweight champion Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) to get the deal agreed on.
In the meantime, the WBO has ordered Crawford to defend against his mandatory Alexis Rocha, and he may choose to get this out of the way first to keep his title.
Coppinger says Crawford has no interest in fighting Rocha. Whether he can delay that title defense so that he can face Spence next is unknown.
Rocha is clearly not ready to fight a fighter on the level of Crawford, and it likely will do poor numbers on PPV if it’s placed there. That’s obviously the last thing Crawford needs in the wake of a massive fight against Spence.
Spence also has a fight he could take first against Keith Thurman at 154. That’s the one that has been talked about for months, and it’s still possible.
Crawford and Spence were in negotiations last November, but the fight failed to happen after Terence walked away from the talks after being a massive offer from BLK Prime to fight David Avanesyan on December 10th.
“I’m told that Terence Crawford has no interest in fighting Alexis Rocha, and that he still wants to fight Errol Spence next,” said Mike Coppinger to ESPN+. “He actually spoke to Errol Spence this week directly to try and get this moving along.”
It’s good that Crawford is seen the light and is interested in reviving the talks for a Spence fight. He’s about to turn 36, and boxing fans could lose interest in seeing the Spence-Crawford fight in the same way they lost interest in the third Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennadiy Golovkin clash, which took four years.
“Him and Spence agreed on a purse split that they agreed is fair, and they’re going to try and get this done now and hammer it out,” said Coppinger. “Team Crawford sent a term sheet over to the other side.
“Do I think it happens? No, I don’t. I think we’re going to see Errol Spence go through with the Keith Thurman fight, and then maybe Terence Crawford will have to fight Alexis Rocha to keep his title,” said Coppinger.
https://youtu.be/g5mQg2CoCt4?t=56