Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder 43-2-1 (42) believes the toll of making weight affected the performance of Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr 28-1 (22) in his undisputed welterweight title clash against Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old Texan southpaw found himself on the canvas three times – once in the second and twice in the seventh – before being stopped in the ninth round by Nebraskan Crawford, 35.
The victory saw Crawford crowned WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine 147-pound champion of the world.
“It was a beautiful fight,” Wilder said after the fight. “It seemed like Errol Spence was a little drained tonight and he couldn’t really do what he needed to do. Bud definitely took advantage of that. He made it look easy.
“Hats off to Terence, man. He fought a magnificent fight tonight. That’s what it’s all about. He proved that he was the best of them all. The way he did it, he did it with ease and calmness. He looked like he was in another dimension…
“I really think Errol over dehydrated himself. You could see it in his skin. You can see it in his eyes and the way he was moving as well. But he fought the fight and that’s what it’s all about – being strong and going all the way to the end.”
Spence, a career welterweight who has been campaigning at 147-pounds since the beginning of his 11 year pro career, has restrained himself from blaming the weight for his loss but has called for an immediate rematch to take place against Crawford at the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds.
“He was just better tonight. He was using the jab. My timing was a little bit off. He was just the better man tonight,” said Spence.
“He was just throwing the hard jab. He was timing with his jab. His timing was just on point. I wasn’t surprised by his speed or his accuracy. It was everything I thought.
“We gotta do it again. I’m going to be a lot better. It’ll be a lot closer. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. I say we gotta do it again. Hopefully, it will happen 154.”
Crawford didn’t rule out the idea and said he has trouble boiling down to welterweight himself.
“It definitely don’t have to be at ’47,” Crawford said. “Like I said, you know, I’m in the hurt business. [Making] ’47 was kinda hard for me, too. I was already talkin’ about moving up in weight and challenging [Jermell] Charlo. So, ’54 wouldn’t be out [of] reach of anything.”
It remains to be seen if there is an appetite from the fans to see them run it back after the one-sided nature of the first bout.
