Errol Spence Jr Unloads On Terence Crawford, Still Wants Keith Thurman Fight

In an uncharacteristic display, International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. attacked World Boxing Organization title-holder Terence Crawford over the weekend.

Spence, along with World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion Keith Thurman, were in attendance for Saturday night's World Boxing Council (WBC) title fight between Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter.

Porter would win the contest via unanimous decision, though many felt Garcia may have won, and the wheels were in motion as Spence entered the ring and called for a title unification fight.

However, speaking to the media after the fight, Spence took the opportunity to lay into Crawford, regarded by many as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

The 28-year-old claimed a fight with Crawford, seen as one of the biggest in the division, would not take place in the near future simply because they fight for different networks, before attacking the latter's boxing resume.

"So at the end of the day, I’m a way better fighter than Crawford," Spence said, as quoted on Boxing Scene. "Who has he fought? The only name fighter he fought is Yuriorkis Gamboa. I fought Lamont Peterson, Chris Algieri, Kell Brook. And how many fights he got? Thirty-something fights?"

"[People say] he’s a great fighter and things like that, but you can’t put him to me. Like the guy he just fought for the undisputed light welterweight championship of the world [Julius Indongo], Regis Prograis stopped him [faster] than he did. So you’ve gotta add that all in to conclusion to who you say the top welterweight is. A lot of stuff is smoke and mirrors. That’s what [Crawford's promoter] Bob Arum do. Bob Arum do a lot of smoke and mirrors. It’s a lot of smoke and mirrors with him. And that’s how it is with Terence Crawford."

Crawford, who notably unified the light welterweight division before moving up to welterweight earlier in the summer, did not take kindly to Spence's comments and fired back on Twitter.

Spence retorted back, claiming there would be no comparison between his and Crawford's future opponents.

During his initial attack on Crawford, Spence later said he was still interested in a fight with Thurman. Thurman, of course, held both the WBA and WBC titles, but had to vacate the latter after he injured himself earlier this year.

Before his injury, many were interested in seeing him face Spence in a title unification fight, and that's still the fight to make for "The Truth."

“I feel like it’s a big-money fight [vs Crawford] because a lot of people are drinking the Kool-Aid,” Spence added. "But at the end of the day, I feel like me and Keith Thurman is the fight to make. A lot of people bring up Terence Crawford [because] Keith Thurman’s been inactive."

"But when Keith Thurman comes back and he has a great fight, he shows what he’s been showing in fights with Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter, everybody’s gonna be talking about Errol Spence-Keith Thurman."

Spence also revealed he spoke to Thurman on the night of the Garcia vs. Porter fight and told him he would beat him within six rounds.

"I told Keith Thurman I’ll stop him," Spence stated. "I said l’ll stop him before the sixth. He just laughed. He don’t say nothing. They know I’m the top dog. They know I’m the wolf in this division, I’m that guy, and I’m not ducking no opposition."