Crawford drubs Spence to win undisputed crown

LAS VEGAS -- Terence Crawford dismantled Errol Spence Jr. in a tour de force performance, scoring a ninth-round TKO in the long-awaited super fight to capture the undisputed welterweight championship on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.

Crawford floored Spence in Round 2 and twice in Round 7, a two-fisted beatdown of Spence to wrest away the IBF, WBA and WBC 147-pound titles to go along with his WBO belt.

Crawford, 35, buckled a blooded and swollen Spence in Round 9 and was unloading unanswered shots when referee Harvey Dock mercifully ended the punishment at 2 minutes, 32 seconds.

Spence protested the stoppage but appeared to lose every round besides the opening frame.

"Like I said before, I only dreamed of being a world champion," Crawford said in his ring interview. "I'm an overachiever. Nobody believed in me when I was coming up, but I made everybody a believer. And I want to thank Spence and his team, like I told him, because without him none of this would be possible for me."

The meeting of elite boxers was arguably the most anticipated boxing match since the mega fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao in 2015.

Crawford was accompanied by music superstar Eminem and his seminal hit "Lose Yourself" as he entered the ring before he delivered the biggest win of his career.

There's a bidirectional rematch clause that the loser can trigger within 30 days of the fight. The winner is able to choose if the return bout takes place at 147 or 154 pounds.

Crawford is ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer, with Spence three spots behind him at No. 4.

Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) had never been knocked down entering Saturday's fight.

Since Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) captured the WBO welterweight title in his first fight at 147 pounds in June 2018, there have been calls for a summit meeting against Spence. For years, one impediment loomed large: rival promoters.

Crawford became a promotional free agent following a 10th-round TKO victory over Shawn Porter in November 2021, paving the way for a potential bout with Spence. The sides engaged in talks for much of last year and were on the verge of completing a deal in September, but talks collapsed at the 11th hour.

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 (Spence is from the Dallas Fort-Worth area).

The fight was Spence's first since he underwent surgery in August 2021 to repair a detached retina. He was set to fight the legendary Manny Pacquiao that same month but withdrew from the matchup because of the eye injury. But Spence came back better than ever, just like he did when he recovered from a serious car crash in October 2019 that threatened to jeopardize his career.

Fourteen months after that accident, Spence routed Danny Garcia via decision. And while many boxers have been forced to retire due to a detached retina, Spence returned from the surgery -- just like Sugar Ray Leonard in the 1980s -- to break Ugas' orbital.