Crawford wants Spence next, no tune-ups, then plans move to 154 for Jermell Charlo

Terence Crawford has his eyes firmly set on Errol Spence Jr next, but a plan coming after that to move up to 154 and fight Jermell Charlo.

Terence Crawford continues to push for his next fight to be against Errol Spence Jr, telling ESPN’s Mike Coppinger the bare truth of the matter as it stands now, that there is no longer a single reason they shouldn’t be fighting.

Crawford also says that after he beats Spence, he plans a move up to 154 lbs to “fuck up Jermell Charlo,” in his words.

WBO welterweight titleholder Crawford (38-0, 29 KO) had been with Top Rank for years, and Spence (28-0, 22 KO), who now has the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles, with Premier Boxing Champions. Though those two sides have worked together, it has been very rare, and usually only for really big fights like the latter two bouts between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder.

That meant Crawford, 34, spent three years at welterweight fighting Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez Jr, a washed-up Amir Khan, Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas, and a washed-up Kell Brook, before finally getting a deal done with a PBC fighter last November, when he stopped Shawn Porter in the 10th round, after which he declared he was leaving Top Rank, and later filed suit against the company.

Spence, 32, was able to get pay-per-view fights with Mikey Garcia, Porter, and Danny Garcia in 2019-20, before his return a few weeks ago in a win over Yordenis Ugas, after which he called out Crawford, and Crawford quickly responded.

Spence has since kept it clear that he wants Crawford next, and now Crawford is doing the same.

From ESPN:

“There’s nothing standing in the way from us fighting. There’s no promotion company that’s blocking it, there’s no wrong side of the street, there’s no nothing. Let’s see who the best welterweight in the world is. ... I don’t want no tuneup fights. I don’t want nothing. I wanna go straight into it. ... After I beat Spence, I’m moving up and I’m fucking up [Jermell] Charlo.”

As long as the money offer is right for both sides and both sides want it as much as they say, there really is now no reason Spence vs Crawford doesn’t happen next. Boxing fans know better than to take something like this as any guarantee, but the chances of it happening are far, far better than they ever have been before.

On the Charlo side of Crawford’s statement, that one’s been brewing a bit lately, too. Charlo recently said that “Crawford can get that work” if he beats Spence and moves up to junior middleweight, and obviously Terence heard it.

Charlo (34-1-1, 18 KO) has a rematch with Brian Castano (17-0-2, 12 KO) coming on May 14 in a Showtime main event. The two of them went to a draw in July 2021 when attempting the first time to crown an undisputed champion at 154, and will give it another go then in yet another highly-anticipated, very good fight on the boxing schedule right now.