The debate over the best welterweight of the modern era is over. Terence Crawford dominated Errol Spence on Saturday night, scoring three knockdowns and stopping Spence in the ninth round to become undisputed welterweight champion.
After a slow first round for both fighters, Crawford completely took over the fight. The first knockdown came off a counter jab followed by a left straight in the second round. To his credit, Spence beat the count and continued to try to make something happen, but Crawford was too fast, too technical and too powerful all night long.
"That was more of a flash knockdown," Crawford said of the second round after the fight. "I caught him with the left. He didn't think I was coming back with the right."
Crawford showcased an incredible jab throughout the fight. Rather than a range-finder or a simple tool to set up better punches, Crawford's jab was a true weapon. Whenever Spence would start to gain any momentum, Crawford would shoot out a thudding jab that would stop Spence dead in his tracks.
Round after round, Spence looked increasingly lost as Crawford shot his laser jab and crisp straight left hands. Spence continued to try and come forward and find a fight-altering shot. Instead, every exchange ended with a decisive blow from Crawford, putting Spence immediately on the defensive.
Spence hit the canvas twice in the seventh round but continued to try to find a way to change the flow of the fight. By the ninth round, Crawford's attack had Spence reeling and left the referee no option other than to stop the action at 2:32 of the frame.
"It was a good stoppage," Crawford said of the referee's decision. "I was on the verge of coming back with some hard shots. Everybody knows I'm a great finisher. The ref did what he's supposed to do to protect the fighter."
With the win, Crawford unified the WBA, WBC and IBF titles with his WBO title and more importantly closed a longstanding debate over whether he or Spence was the best 147-pound fighter of the era. Crawford, who is also a former undisputed junior welterweight champion, also became the first male fighter to ever achieve undisputed status in two weight divisions in the modern four-belt era.
"It means everything because of who I took the belts from," Crawford said. "They talked bad about me. They said I wasn't good enough and I couldn't beat these welterweights. I just kept my head to the sky and kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is. Tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.
"Like I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion. I'm an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer. I want to thank Spence and his team because without him none of this would have been possible."
The complex negotiations to get the fighters in the ring after years of fans and media alike salivating for a showdown between the two resulted in a contract with a bilateral rematch clause. As the loser, Spence is able to activate the rematch, which he indicated he would do after suffering a one-sided defeat.
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While the winner was able to dictate the weight where the rematch would take place, Spence said he hoped the rematch would take place at junior middleweight rather than at welterweight once again.
"Hell yeah we gotta do it again," Spence said. "I'm going to be a lot better. It's going to be a lot closer. It's probably going to be in December before the end of the year. Hell yeah we gotta do it again. ... Hopefully at 154."
Elsewhere on the card, Isaac Cruz picked up a tough win over Giovanni Cabrera in the co-main event as he continues to campaign to get a rematch with Gervonta "Tank" Davis. Cruz landed some massive shots on Cabrera, but he just couldn't get him to drop over the course of 12 rounds. The win also secured Cruz a future shot at the WBC lightweight title. Plus, Alexandro Santiago outpointed and dominated former titleholder Nonito Donaire to claim the vacant WBC bantamweight crown. Donaire, 40, looked his age for the first time and will go home to consider his future in the sport after the loss.
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with the live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results
- Terence Crawford (c) def. Errol Spence Jr. via ninth-round TKO
- Isaac Cruz def. Giovanni Cabrera via split decision (114-113, 113-114, 115-112)
- Alexandro Santiago def. Nonito Donaire via unanimous decision (115-113, 116-112, 116-112)
- Yoenis Tellez def. Sergio Garcia via third-round TKO
Spence vs. Crawford scorecard, live coverage
| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spence | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 70 | ||||
| Crawford | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | TKO | 79 |