“The better man won tonight," he said. "Not here to make any excuses. Definitely did his thing. My timing was off, and he capitalized on a couple of things. His time was a lot better than mine tonight.”
Spence (28-1-22 KOs), the No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer in the world, regarded as one of the best boxers of this generation by multiple official rankings, was dominated by his longtime rival and now undisputed welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (40-0-31 KOs), in a highly anticipated bout July 29, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was ended in the ninth round by referee Harvey Dock when Spence, 33, was unable to answer a barrage of punches by Crawford, 35.
Crawford knocked Spence down with hard-hitting jabs and hooks in Round 2 and twice in Round 7; by Round 9, the referee stopped the fight and awarded Crawford a technical knockout. The massively bruised Spence would protest the stoppage by the referee as Crawford celebrated; however, the decision would stand.
Spence expressed disappointment in his performance and announced immediate plans to activate his contractual rematch clause.
“Hell, yeah, we’ve got to do it again,” Spence told reporter Jim Gray. “I’m going to be a lot better.”
Both fighters agreed upon a rematch option before signing contracts for the super fight and later announced that the winner of the first fight chose the weight class of the rematch bout. During the post-fight interview, Spence revealed his desire to move the fight weight from 147 to 154 pounds in the rematch. After sharing that it’s also hard for him to make 147 pounds, Crawford obliged.
Spence congratulated Crawford on his performance and requested a rematch in person multiple times throughout fight night and on social media the following morning.
As expected, Spence’s agonizing defeat spawned memes, comments and reviews across social media. Most North Texas fans supported their champion with posts and comments as the world scrutinized Spence's performance. “Sad everybody switching up on @ErrolSpenceJr like the greatest boxers of all time never lost,” wrote Kevin Vine Jr. of Dallas on Twitter. “Glad to say I’ve been with big bro since he was boxing in Oak Cliff and never switched up ever and never will.
“Congrats @terencecrawford, good shit,” Spence wrote to his 365k Twitter and 1.1 million Instagram followers on Sunday morning. “Hopefully, we can do it again before the end of the year.”
North Texas hip-hop was present in Sin City on Saturday to support Spence with appearances by stars Yella Beezy and BigXThaPlug, who walked the southpaw boxer to the ring performing his hit song “Texas.” Immediately following the fight, both artists spoke to the media about the loss.
“You lose some, you win some, just like I told somebody earlier,” BigX ThaPlug told Fighthype. “Whoever [Spence] fights next, I feel bad for them. You gotta take some Ls and shake it back. He’s going to shake back, and I feel bad for whoever he fights next.”
BigXThaPlug also showed unwavering support and advice to his fellow Texan, writing: “Don’t beat yourself up. We [Dallas] still here, we still got you, ain’t nothing changing. We good, Team Spence, through and through, we got you.”
Spence fought Crawford after a 15-month layoff, three car accidents and eye surgery. The proposed timeframe for the rematch is December, but the date has yet to be confirmed. According to multiple sources, the Spence- Crawford fight surpassed expectations with a sold-out 19,900 in attendance and an estimated 700,000 pay-per-view buys, raking in over $50 million in revenue.
North Texas fans flooded social media with love for Spence over the weekend. “@ErrolSpenceJr Dallas, Texas (Oak Cliff) love you man,” tweeted TheOriginalTDR of Dallas on Twitter. “We are mad proud of you! Keep dem gloves on go sir!”
Dallas’ @YOUNGrich4G wrote to Spence on Twitter, “One loss doesn’t define who you are. You had to do a lot and sacrifice a lot to make that fight happen. Never ducked or ran from no smoke! You still a champ @ErrolSpenceJr ! That comeback is going to be a movie #ManDown @ShowtimeBoxing.”
@CityOfDallas send your support to a great fighter and man who puts it all on the line every time for us fans. @ErrolSpenceJr . Man we rocking wit you over here. Ain’t nothing.
— NOjO (@nojoapparel) July 30, 2023
All future champs run from the big fights lol the disrespect erroll Spence getting Caz he lost is crazy he attempted to go big, he fell short it is what it is,goes to show the love be fake don’t give the fans what they want nomore @ErrolSpenceJr
— TJack (@OfficialTy_57) July 30, 2023
It’s a great time to let @ErrolSpenceJr DFW got him always! #Respect
— Big Rob (@bigtallrob) July 30, 2023
