Crawford Fight Date
One such moment of trouble occurred 15 years ago when Crawford was shot in the face following a game of dice with friends just weeks after his fourth pro fight. He drove himself to the hospital. He recovered, welcoming his first child a few months later.
The talented player also became the highest-ranked lightweight in the U.S. Since the early days, Terence honed his natural raw power and skills. He has successfully become one of the most admired and talented boxers.
Crawford went on to score a highlight-reel sixth-round KO of David Avanesyan in December in his native Omaha, Nebraska. Spence, 33, last fought in April 2022, a 10th-round TKO victory over Yordenis Ugas in Arlington, Texas, to pick up a third welterweight title.
On August 3, Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) will take on Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) for the WBA junior middleweight title in the main event of a stacked card at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, in the first boxing event in the United States backed by Turki Alalshikh. At a press conference on April 24 at Gotham Hall in New York, the card was formally announced. DAZN streamed the press conference and has streamed the previous Saudi cards via pay-per-view. Dan Rafael addressed the card on the latest Big Fight Weekend preview podcast: "This is the best card in the last 25 years," said Rafael.
In 2017, Crawford had a short reign as the undisputed light welterweight champion, being the first since Kostya Tszyu in 2004, and the first in any weight class to simultaneously hold all four major world titles since Jermain Taylor in 2005. In 2023, he became the undisputed welterweight champion, the first since Zab Judah in 2006. Crawford is the one of only three male boxers in history, along with Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk), to become the undisputed champion in two weight classes in the "four-belt era".
Having conquered yet another division, Crawford then rose to welterweight for his next fight, winning the WBO World Welterweight Title with a ninth-round TKO over Australia’s Jeff Horn. With the win, Crawford was now a three-division world champion and widely considered the best fighter in the sport.
Avanesyan tested Crawford earlier, connecting on attention-grabbing shots. But with each round, Crawford's countering became more vociferous. "Bud" started working in slick but whiplashing combinations to the body and head, before eviscerating Avanesyan in the sixth.
Not only can Terence Crawford call himself undisputed for a second time and in another weight class, but he is now approaching all-time status with a brutal exhibition of power and poise that has sent shockwaves through the boxing world.
"I’m truly excited to be a part of the biggest fight in boxing and the best welterweight matchup of the century," said Spence. "Terence Crawford is a great fighter and our styles are going to make for a great fight. I told him and the world what I was going to do after I captured my first welterweight title and it’s been strap season ever since.
"It means everything because of who I took the belts from," Crawford said. "They tried to blackball me. They kept me out. They talked bad about me. They said I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t beat these welterweights.
The fireworks sent Crawford's hometown fans at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska into a frenzy Saturday night, as the WBO world welterweight champion made his sixth straight defense and recorded his 10th straight knockout.
Everyone focuses on making the weight. That’s not something that I’m focused on right now because it’s not close to the time to make the weight. Right now, it’s just focusing on the things that I need to and that’s the fight. The weight is good because I moved up in weight, so I don’t have to worry about any issues.
Crawford was promoted by Top Rank for years, whereas Spence is aligned with PBC. The companies rarely conduct business with each other, and it was a major stumbling block to the highly anticipated fight.
Saturday night truly is fight night. Not only will Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje collide in the main event of UFC 291, but Errol "The Truth" Spence Jr. takes on Terence "Bud" Crawford for the Undisputed Welterweight World Championship in a must-see boxing event taking place on Showtime PPV and PPV.com!
Bob Arum spoke to ESPN in early February 2017 about Crawford's next defence and possible opponents. He said that HBO had set a May 20 date for the fight and the venue would most likely be in Crawford's hometown, Omaha. Mexican boxer Antonio Orozco, one of Crawford's mandatory challengers and Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz, who had been calling out Crawford, were the names mentioned. He went on to explain how Orozco's promoters seemed to have little interest in the fight. Lou DiBella, promoter of Diaz, was eager to make a fight happen. Arum spoke to The Ring on March 1 saying that Crawford's opponent had been narrowed down to Diaz or Adrian Granados. Amir Imam, ranked number 1 by the WBC was also in the mix, but Arum said that he found it difficult to make a deal with his promoter, Don King. Terms were finally agreed on March 22 for crawford boxing next fight vs. Diaz at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 20. Contracts were to be signed shortly after. A week after the fight was announced, the location was changed. The new venue was confirmed to be Madison Square Garden in New York.