Spence-Crawford clash to finally happen Saturday night in Las Vegas
Finally.
Through peaks and valleys, ups and downs, a clash between Errol Spence and Terence Crawford will take place Saturday.
The two best welterweights in the world will square off at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 12-round bout will headline a four-bout Showtime Championship Boxing Pay-Per-View telecast at 5 p.m.
On the line will be Spence’s WBC, IBF and WBA world title belts, Crawford’s WBO world title belt, the vacant Ring Magazine championship, and the title of undisputed champion.
This fight has marinated for years. While both fighters may be a year or two past their primes, the Spence-Crawford bout still is a highly anticipated showdown since it was officially announced several weeks ago.
Spence (28-0, 22 knockouts), who resides in Desoto, Texas, added the WBA world title in his last bout on April 16, 2022, stopping Cuba-born Yordenis Ugas in the 10th round. Ugas had Spence stunned early in the fight, but was battered and had to deal with an eye that was almost closed prior to the fight being stopped.
The 33-year-old became a unified world titleholder by defeating WBC world titleholder Shawn Porter by split decision in September 2019.
While Spence made news in the ring, he also made news outside of it. A few weeks after the win over Porter, Spence crashed his Ferrari in the early morning hours of Oct. 10 in nearby Dallas. He was ejected from the vehicle, due to not wearing a seatbelt, and suffered serious injuries. Spence would plead guilty to Driving While Intoxicated (DWI).
Spence suffered a detached retina, preventing him from facing boxing great Manny Pacquiao. Ironically, Ugas would fight Pacquiao and would win by decision.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) overcame a gunshot wound to his head at the age of 20 in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, to become an amateur standout and eventually a world titleholder in three weight classes.
The 35-year-old became undisputed world junior welterweight champion, collecting all the belts with a third-round knockout win over Julius Indongo in August 2017.
Crawford moved up in weight to 147 pounds almost 10 months later to knock out Jeff Horn of Australia. He made six successful defenses, including one against Moorpark resident and contender Egidijus Kavaliasukas.
In his last bout on Dec. 10, 2022, Crawford scored a devastating knockout victory over David Avanesyan.
Spence said earlier this week that the bout against Crawford will be at 147 pounds. Should Spence win Saturday, a rematch would be at 154 pounds.
Also on the pay-per-view telecast:
Isaac Cruz (24-2-1, 17 KOs) of Mexico City will face Chicago’s Giovanni Cabrera (21-0, 7 KOs) in a world lightweight title elimination bout.
Nonito Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs) will square off against Alexandro Santiago (27-3-5, 14 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico, in a 12-round bout for the vacant WBC world bantamweight title. The Filipino-born Donaire, who is 40 years old, was once trained by Oxnard legend Robert Garcia.
Bohachuk victorious
Junior middleweight contender Serhii Bohachuk stopped Ghana’s Patrick Allotey in the first round last Saturday at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez.
Bohachuk landed a right cross that dropped Allotey face-first to the canvas. Allotey did barely beat the count, but referee Jack Reiss waved the fight off.
With the win, Bohachuk, who is originally from Ukraine and now resides in Los Angeles, improved to 23-1, 23 KOs. He has won his last five bouts since losing to Brandon Adams in March 2021.
Allotey falls to 42-5, 32 KOs.
The card was promoted by Tom Loeffler, who hopes to promote three to four cards in 2024 at the Chumash Casino Resort.
Francisco A. Salazar covers boxing for The Star. He also covers boxing for Ring Magazine and Boxingscene. He can be reached on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Spence-Crawford clash to finally happen Saturday night in Las Vegas
