Errol Spence Jr. Beat Ugás and Set Up A Big Fight With Crawford


Not ringside, Crawford live-tweeted Saturday’s main event and ended his social media session with some nonsensical talk aimed at building anticipation for a fight that boxing fans have long wanted.

“Keep my belts warm” Crawford tweeted to Spence. “I’ll be back to pick them up later this year.”

From a purely competitive perspective, a matchup of Spence and Crawford, considered the two best fighters in the middleweight division, makes sense for a long time. But professional boxing is also a job that complicates pairing two fighters. While Spence was in line with the Premier Boxing Champions, Crawford was signed with a rival promotional outfit, Top Rank, until November.

But now Crawford is a free agentand Spence’s stock rises after his emphatic victory. Spence, 28-0, played Floyd Mayweather Jr. and some of its heavyweight predecessors, such as Pacquiao, may not enjoy the mainstream fame, but it does sell pay-per-views and tickets—39,946 spectators attended Saturday’s card.

“Looking back at history with Errol Spence, he’s making at least 300,000 purchases, quite reliably,” Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports, Saturday’s card pay-per-view partner, said in an interview before the encounter. “He’s making at least $20 million in gross every time, just in pay-per-view revenue. This is an elite figure.”

Spence also provides action.

Early in the match, Ugás smashed Spence’s progress and countered his big punches by scoring goals against his body with punches and right hands. But as the laps went on, Spence found his rhythm and increased his efficiency, hindering Ugás’ chance to counter. Where Ugás was throwing punches at mid-range, Spence worked from the outside in and nudged with his right fist until he was close enough to punch Ugás’ body and head.

In Round 6, Ugás created enough room to land that heavy right hand. For a moment he believed he had turned the war around.

“I thought I had a chance there,” said Ugás in the ring after the match. “But he’s a great fighter. He’s recovered.”





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