ESPN editor Mike Coppinger as of recently reported that Errol Spence Jr. and Keith Thurman were finalizing negotiations for a non-championship bout in April. A bout between them was previously ordered by the WBC in November of last year, but the initial assumption was that the fight would take place at 147 lbs, rather than 154 lbs.
As the fight would take place at 154 lbs – where neither Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KO’s) nor Errol Spence (28-0, 22 KO’s) have any world titles at that weight class, their match would be sanctioned as a non-title bout. It is unknown why the fight would take place at 147 lbs in the first place, given both fighters have fought as Welterweights most or the entirety of their career.
Speculation suggests Errol Spence Jr. – who has entertained a fight at 154 lbs against Jermell Charlo in the past – is aiming for a future fight with Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO’s), the Super Welterweight division’s current undisputed champion.
There are however, some key issues that need to be highlighted, for the sake of clarity.
What will happen to Spence’s titles at Welterweight?
Normally speaking, when a champion moves up or down in weight his/her title(s) will be forfeited, stripped or vacated. There have been countless examples of this being the case, most prominently with Floyd Mayweather Jr. – who was known of fighting at different weight levels – every time he moved from one weight class to another. Though exceptions are sometimes made, as recently with Japanese undisputed Bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, generally-speaking every champion that fights at another weight class would have to forfeit their titles.
Usually, a champion can attain a status similar as to Inoue’s recent super champion status, and then move up while retaining their titles. With Errol Spence Jr. however, there has not been any indication he has received such a status. Neither the WBA, WBC or IBF has designated Spence as a ‘super champion’ or something akin to that, meaning that him fighting at 154 lbs should virtually result in his titles being vacated.
It is however, important to note that even without a special status, champions can move up and down while still retaining their titles if they barter for exceptions with the governing bodies. The most prevalent example of this is Saul Alvarez, who has thus far managed to move up to Light-Heavyweight to fight for another title, while holding every title in the divison below. Even with a ‘special champion’ status with one or more of the governing bodies, the rules would normally dictate he would have to vacate at least one title, as Alvarez only retains such a status with the WBC as their franchise champion.
Can the undisputed fight between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford still occur?
Likely, not at 147 lbs. Though the only other champion in the Welterweight division, WBO champion Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KO’s) has also expressed interest at moving up to fight Jermell Charlo, Errol Spence Jr. has cryptically claimed that the fight would not happen.
“He ain’t fighting no Jermell.” Spence responded to an interview question by ESNEWS on Crawford potentially facing Jermell Charlo. “If I can’t fight him (Charlo), he ain’t fighting Jermell.”
Spence’s comments suggest the PBC boxing promotion – who both Spence and Charlo are contracted to – might prevent Crawford from facing Charlo. If the PBC has this sort of power, it would not be unfathomable to conclude that they would – or have been – preventing the undisputed bout between Crawford and Spence from happening.
One promotion preventing a fighter that’s independent – in the case of Crawford – from fighting who he wanted to would not only be a clear sign of corruption, but also stagnate the sport by purposefully foiling competitive fights.
If Errol Spence moves up, according to the rules of the governing bodies his titles would have to be vacated. A fight between Spence and Crawford would therefore only be possible if Spence moved down again to fight Crawford, who would need to fight for the vacated world titles and become a unified or undisputed champion to interest Spence enough.
There is a chance that Crawford and Spence could meet at 154 lbs, but that may be unlikely considering Spence’s earlier comments.
Why is Keith Thurman also moving up to Junior Middleweight/Super Welterweight?
While Keith Thurman has been a Welterweight for most of his career, he has taken a couple fights at 154 lbs and officially debuted in that weight class at the start of his career. It would not be too odd for him to move up if the decision was up to him. The issue with Thurman moving up is that it may not be his decision. With Keith Thurman also being signed to the PBC, there is little to nothing that stands in the way for them to convince Thurman to make a move up if the incentive is right.
Will Spence fight Jermell Charlo at some point then?
Virtually, there would be nothing to prevent the fight from happening. Errol Spence would likely receive an opportunity to fight Charlo quicker than other contenders in the division due to him having been a Welterweight unified champion – along with him being a recognized name in boxing. This would especially be the case if he ended up defeating Keith Thurman at Junior Middleweight/Super Welterweight.
A potential roadblack, however, are Spence’s comments – illustrated in this article’s previous sections – indicating that he does not have full control over his career. This might lead to the promotion he works with not allowing him to fight Jermell at all – as they belong on the same side, so to speak.
The potential of a fight between the two is not only further complicated by the fact that both belong to the same promotion, but they are also trained by the same coach, Derrick James. James is a current boxing trainer that compiled a record of 21-7-1 (12 KO’s) as a pro boxer before retiring. He is most noted for his efforts in helping Charlo to become an undisputed champion, and Spence in becoming the unified champion of the Welterweight division.
Though Spence has expressed interest in fighting Charlo – as referenced earlier in this article, whether he will be allowed to is another matter entirely.
Would Errol Spence Jr. vs Keith Thurman be a good fight?
It would be an excellent fight. Though neither would fight for a title – as Jermell Charlo holds all the titles as the undisputed champion, the winner would likely receive an instant opportunity to fight Charlo. Both would step in the ring as former unified champions of the Welterweight division, and thus their names carry more weight than the other potential challengers in the division.
As the two have been slated to fight each other for years now, a Spence vs. Thurman match would certainly garner as much attention as that of a title fight, For hardcore boxing enthusiasts, the fight will also match two fighters with distinctive yet effective styles that have led to becoming recognizable champions in their division, making their fight even more significant.
Does this fight indicate that Spence is avoiding Crawford?
With Spence moving up and technically supposed to vacate his titles at Welterweight, it is natural for people to speculate that he might be avoiding Crawford. Based on what we know of the PBC however, it can be speculated that it is not up to Spence whether the fight happens or not, but the PBC. His previous comments surrounding Crawford not fighting Charlo already paints a picture of this being the case.
The answer to the question is therefore a strict ‘no’. Spence might feel up to fighting Crawford, or he might not. Crawford himself might be hesitating to fight Spence or he could be itching to face him; either way, the decision seems to be up to the PBC rather than the fighters.
