Shane Mosley Analyzes Spence vs. Crawford

Well, apparently, this time the reports are true. Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford is going to happen, with a targeted date of July 29.

According to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger, the two welterweight kingpins will finally be facing off in a unification clash after several false rumors hit the internet over the last eight months or so, declaring the fight was a done deal.

"Breaking: Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. have agreed to a deal to fight for the undisputed welterweight championship on July 29 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, sources tell ESPN," Coppinger tweeted on Tuesday.

"Al Haymon, who advises Spence, and CAA’s Ish Hinson (Crawford’s advisor) will deliver the most anticipated boxing match since Mayweather vs Pacquiao in 2015."

Coppinger would later follow that post with another regarding the rematch clauses in place for the bout:

"The Crawford-Spence fight, which will be televised on Showtime PPV on July 29, contains a bidirectional rematch clause that the loser can trigger within 30 days after the fight, sources told ESPN. It’s a two-fight deal for Crawford with PBC."

The 33-year-old Spence, who is the IBF, WBA, and WBC welterweight world champion, sports a record of 28-0 with 22 KOs and will entering the ring on July 29 with a period of inactivity exceeding seventeen months. The southpaw’s last fight was in April of 2022 when he stopped Yordenis Ugas in ten rounds to claim the WBA belt. In recent years, Spence has suffered through stretches of inactivity due to injuries sustained in a car crash in the fall of 2019 and an eye injury that required retina surgery in the summer of 2021.

Crawford, 35, is currently the WBO welterweight champion and has a record of 39-0 with 30 KOs. He was formerly the WBO lightweight champion as well as the unified 4-belt world champion in the junior welterweight division. The switch-hitting Crawford captured the WBO 147 lb. belt in a one-sided beating of Jeff Horn in June of 2018 and has made six subsequent defenses of the title. In his most recent contest, he stopped David Avanesyan via sixth round KO in December of last year.

One of the first boxing legends asked about this fight in the moments after it was announced was former four-division world champ Shane Mosley.

"I"m leaning towards Terence more now [based on] activity," Mosley told Fighthype.com. "But that doesn"t really mean anything, because Errol Spence could be in the gym sparring, training with the Charlo Brothers and everybody else and we don"t know nothing about it, but he could be getting ready right now…It"s a 50-50 fight, but it"s, like, we just want to see it already.

"It seems like if it was going to be a knockout, that it would lean more towards Terence Crawford…but I can see this fight probably going the distance because of the way they both fight…Errol is a really good boxer, he has a good chin. Terence is a good fighter, he can fight orthodox or southpaw. I can see this fight possibly going distance…There could be some good moments in the fight where maybe both of them hit the ground…but I see it going the distance.

When asked whether it might turn into a one-sided beatdown, like his bout with Antonio Margarito, Mosley was fairly certain that couldn’t happen in Spence-Crawford.

"I can"t see that happening because both of them are really, really good and they both know how to get away or go to you," Mosley said. "Margarito was more of a one-dimensional fighter where he goes at you and he pressures you. That was more suitable for me because of me growing up in California, being around a lot of Hispanic fighters, [but] these guys, they both can move or they can attack. So, it"s going to be a back and forth kind of thing. It might be more of a me and Oscar De La Hoya type of fight, going back and forth."