Crawford vs Spence 2, Why Not?
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Sep 2025
On September 13, the boxing world, boxing fans, and mainstream sports enthusiasts witnessed Pound for Pound (P4P) and current WBA junior middleweight champion Terrance “Bud” Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) defeat the “Face of Boxing,” undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) on Netflix.
This was the third high-profile fight on Netflix since the platform has ventured into broadcast boxing, and it was a very successful event. It was reported that 41 million viewers watched the fight worldwide. Crawford brought a very impressive boxing résumé to the challenge against Canelo. Crawford, who is now a five-division champion after defeating Canelo, was previously a world lightweight (135 lbs), junior welterweight (140 lbs), welterweight (147 lbs), and junior middleweight (154 lbs) champion. Canelo’s résumé was impressive as well, boasting four world championships starting in the junior middleweight division (154 lbs), middleweight division (160 lbs), super middleweight division (168 lbs), and light heavyweight division (175 lbs).
What made fight so special was that Crawford was previously an undisputed champion in the current four-belt era (WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF) in the 140 lbs division in 2017 when he defeated Julius Indongo via KO, and in the 147 lbs division when he defeated Errol Spence via TKO in 2023. However, Crawford was attempting to become a three-division undisputed champion by challenging Canelo, the Undisputed King at 168 lbs. He was also moving up two weight divisions from the 154 lbs division, bypassing the 160 lbs division to go up to Canelo’s division (168 lbs). This had never been done before. The only other fighters to have come close to matching Crawford’s accomplishment are Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk and Undisputed Super Bantamweight Champion Naoya Inoue, the two other male boxers to have held four belts in two divisions.
After 12 rounds of boxing against Canelo Saturday night on September 13, Crawford left no doubt that he deserved to be declared the winner of the bout, thus making history as the only male boxer to become undisputed in three weight divisions. The fight was not even close, as Crawford won a unanimous decision in the eyes of many. The official scorecards were 115-113 by two judges, while the third judge scored the fight 116-112. Philboxing.com scored the fight nine rounds for Crawford and three rounds for Canelo. It was rumored that Canelo was paid a whopping $150 million purse for the fight, and Crawford was paid $50 million. The Allegiant Stadium set a record for boxing match attendance in Las Vegas with a total of 70,482 fans.
So, what’s next for Crawford and Canelo? There are unsubstantiated rumors that Canelo fought through an injury, which could explain his subpar performance against Crawford. If a Canelo injury were substantiated, then a rematch would be a good idea. It would again generate excitement and more money for all parties involved, and Canelo could win as well. There has been no official word from Team Canelo regarding his condition during the fight, whether he will retire, or whom he will fight next. Crawford is open to a rematch against Canelo.
On the other hand, Crawford has stated he will not fight WBC Light Heavyweight (175 lbs) Champion David Benavidez (30-0, 24 KOs). Benavidez is undefeated and was Canelo’s mandatory defense opponent for a couple of years when he held the WBC interim 168 lbs championship. Canelo refused to fight Benavidez, so he moved up to 175 lbs and became champion in that division. The Benavidez camp has always left the option open to return to 168 lbs if Canelo ever accepted his challenge. Now that Crawford has defeated Canelo, the Benavidez camp has already stated they are willing to fight Crawford. Crawford vs. Benavidez apparently may not happen.
So, what’s the next best fight for Crawford? The next best fight is clearly Crawford vs. Spence 2, a rematch of the first fight that took place in July 2023 in Las Vegas. That bout saw Crawford stop Spence in seven rounds via TKO and gave Crawford his second undisputed championship. The bout also did commercially well, as it sold out the T-Mobile Center and was reported to have sold 650,000-750,000 Pay Per Views (PPV), grossing $55 million. After Spence was defeated, it was reported that he was “weight drained,” walking around as high as 187 lbs and having to lose 50 lbs and miss meals to reach the 147 lbs limit in order to defend his unified title (WBA, WBC, IBF) against Crawford. Months after the fight, it was reported that Spence had cataract surgery, which was his second, as he had surgery in 2021 for a detached retina. The eye surgery and the weight loss taint Crawford’s win over Spence in the eyes of some, but not this writer. It’s been reported that Spence is currently in training and fighting shape. Spence has stated in the past that he wants “big fights” instead of “tune-up fights.” After Unified Champion Sebastian Fundora defeated former WBO junior middleweight champion Tim Tszyu, Spence boldly entered the ring and challenged the giant Fundora, but for reasons unknown to this writer, the fight never materialized. During the past few weeks, internet reports have surfaced that former undisputed junior middleweight champion Charlo and his stablemate, Spence, are willing to fight each other. That fight would be appealing if it were for a world title at 154 lbs or 160 lbs. The fight that makes the most sense and generates the most money is Crawford vs. Spence 2. Will Spence show that he is the better fighter and that he lost because he was not physically 100%? Or can Crawford defeat Spence a second time and show that the excuses for Spence’s loss from his fans and boxing critics don’t matter, as he will repeat the feat and prove why he is P4P the best fighter in boxing? Therefore, Crawford vs. Spence 2: Why not?
Boxing Notes
After waiting months in anticipation for the official announcement of the Tank Davis vs. Lamont Roach rematch due to the controversy of the first fight, boxing fans have to now settle for a Tank Davis vs. Jake Paul fight. This fight will be an exhibition between Davis, a lightweight (135 lbs), and Paul, who was a heavyweight (227 lbs) when he fought Mike Tyson. The fight was scheduled to take place in Georgia but will now reportedly take place in Florida. Sources are reporting this will be a 10-round fight at a “catchweight” of 195 lbs. Davis is expected to pocket $40 million, and Jake will pocket $60 million. This fight makes financial sense for both fighters. It’s also reported that former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson will fight Floyd Mayweather sometime in 2026 in an exhibition fight as well. Tyson vs. Mayweather will no doubt be an exciting fight as well. It will be interesting to see what platform they will fight on, in what city, and if the rules will be similar to the Davis vs. Paul fight.
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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