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Brianna Williams, ESPN
Saturday night’s bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford took years to come to fruition — and the action in Las Vegas proved to be worth the wait.
Crawford, the new undisputed welterweight champion, knocked down Spence Jr. in Round 2 and never looked back. He asserted his dominance early and often with a decisive victory via TKO in the ninth round. It marked the first loss of Spence Jr.’s career and Crawford improved to 40-0 as the first undisputed welterweight champion in the four-belt era.
Just before the end of Round 7, Crawford sent Spence Jr. to the canvas for the third time and several stars were in awe.
I do wanna see this again at 54 I think Errol just too drained..
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 30, 2023
I hate to say it but they need to stop this 🥺
— Claressa Gwoat Shields (@Claressashields) July 30, 2023
Throw in the towel. Think about whether or not you even want the rematch. But it’s time to be humble
— ShowtimeShawn Porter (@ShowtimeShawnP) July 30, 2023
TC the 🐐 ‼️
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) July 30, 2023
“He was the better man tonight,” said Spence Jr., who holds the rematch clause.
Praise immediately poured in for the new champ.
By far Bud best performance.. he rose to the occasion!
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) July 30, 2023
I like Spence but… Crawford too good for Spence 👊🏻 thats why I pick him to win.
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) July 30, 2023
Crawford showed out tonight.
— Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia (@DannySwift) July 30, 2023
@terencecrawford the best pound4pound @ringmagazine
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 30, 2023
Some people was telling me this was suppose to be a fight!??! ..😏 yeah aight
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) July 30, 2023