Terence Crawford put in the performance of 2023 – and perhaps beyond – to defeat Errol Spence Jr and become the undisputed welterweight champion. Now, the contractual rematch looms.

It was a long road to get to the fight, and something Crawford’s former promoter, Bob Arum, couldn’t make happen. Speaking to Fight Hub TV, the veteran discussed why he didn’t regret parting ways before it did.

“Terence Crawford is a great talent. He always said that through and he has proved it. The great question is can you match up his economic demands with his actual marketability? And we were not able to do that. We lost a lot of money promoting his fights. I wish him well, but my company isn’t prepared to take those risks.”

The 92-year-old then predicted that the rematch would not reach the heights of the first fight – reportedly 700,000 pay-per-view buys.

“Terence was extraordinarily good fighting Spence. It did very well economically, but again, if you ran it back and you had Terence fighting Spence again, I really don’t believe that it would do anything like the number that the first fight did.”

Finally, Arum said Crawford simply had the beating of Spence, and that won’t attract fans now that it was known.

“What people didn’t realise was you looked at Spence and you looked at his whole career. The one thing that was glaring was, with all of his great victories and all his fights, he had fought two, nothing southpaws.

So that should’ve indicated to everybody that Spence didn’t like fighting southpaws. Crawford and BoMac knew that. What did they do? They just fought him southpaw.”

A weight and date for the rematch is yet to be announced, but with PBC’s recent link up with Amazon Prime, that’s where it will land.

Terence Crawford was the first male boxer to become two-weight undisputed champion this year, and feels that such a feat makes him the standout star of 2023.

‘Bud’ beat Errol Spence Jr handily in what was billed a 50/50 fight to add the remaining three welterweight belts to his collection.

The stoppage victory saw him catapult to the top of pound-for-pound lists, if he wasn’t there already, and had some backing him to make an incredible three-weight jump and give Saul ‘Canelo’ Álvarez a run for his money.

Despite it being his only outing this year, Crawford took to X to say that it was enough to sweep the Fighter of the Year awards.

“I’m the only fighter to beat a top five pound for pound fighter this year and the way I beat him was unmatched. 2023 Fighter Of The Year Is Me. Some might say but I only fought 1 time but that 1 fight was bigger than any of the others.”

Whilst many fans agree, others reserve the top spot for somebody else.

One such candidate is Naoya Inoue, who followed in Crawford’s footsteps to become four-belt champion for the second time. ‘The Monster’ continued to advertise the lower weight-classes with his speed and knockout power, dispatching of both Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales in his first two fights at super-bantamweight.

Devin Haney also made a strong case by defending his undisputed lightweight status against Vasily Lomachenko before moving up to 140 and dethroning WBC Champion, Regis Prograis.

Others believe David Benavidez, despite chasing titles rather than defending them, deserves a mention with wins over Caleb Plant and Demetrius Andrade as he continues to fight his way towards a shot at Canelo.

Regardless of who picks who, all examples point to an impressive year in the sport with another to come in 2024.

Nebraska-born Terence Crawford often speaks about his love for children. ‘Bud’ together with his longtime girlfriend Alinda Person looks after their six children. While Crawford and Person are not married, they have been in a relationship since the early 2000s. Out of the six children, three are boys, Terrence Jr, T.Bud, and Tyrese, the other three are girls named, Miya, Talaya, and Trinity Michele. Crawford’s children have followed his path and are building a liking for athletics.

Like their father did in his youth, Tyrese and T. Bud have participated in school wrestling competitions. On the other hand,  Talaya went viral after winning a race despite her shoe falling off at the start. Crawford’s relationship with his children is impressive. He often posts about his family on social media. Undoubtedly, the whole family has competitiveness in their blood. Recently, Crawford posted a video of him and his family playing ‘UNO’, the card game, for Christmas. Crawford is seen mocking everyone for losing.

The video posted by Crawford features him saying, “When everybody tryna team up on you in UNO and you still win!.” Crawford proceeds to pan the camera to everyone one-by-one calling them a loser. Everyone in the family can be seen trying to talk back to Crawford. The Christmas game involved more trash-talk than Crawford’s press conferences.

Later in the video, Crawford exclaims how everyone was looking at each other’s hands and instructing each other to play a certain card. The video cuts off right after Crawford says, “Y’all are trash.”. 

It is great to see that Crawford’s family is enjoying Christmas. He has mentioned that he finds solace in his children. This is not the only endearing side of the boxer who is otherwise fierce inside the ring.

As Crawford took on Errol Spence in July, his hometown residents flocked in to show their excitement for the fight. One family from Nebraska showed their special appreciation for the fighter. Lisa Hord says there’s a side to ‘Bud’ that not a lot of people know about. “When he’s talking to you, you’re the most important person in the room.”.

According to Hord, Crawford got to know her daughter Shirley in 2020, not long after learning that she had Stage 4 melanoma that had spread to her brain. He even gave her a boxing glove that was autographed. According to Hord, Shirley has been cancer-free since 2022 following radiation therapy. Later, She described Crawford’s reaction to hearing the news. “Several months later, I ran into him, and he asked how my daughter was doing,” Hord recalled. “Bud, she doesn’t have cancer.” He exclaimed, “I told you!” as he leaped off the back of his friend’s truck.

Crawford is one of those fighters who is also known for his kindheartedness and love for his family. During this festive season, he decided to go all out on them in a game other than boxing.

Terence Crawford, reigning atop ‘The Ring’ Magazine’s Pound-for-Pound list, just threw a verbal uppercut. Picture this: a boxer usually letting his fists do the talking, now breaking silence on Twitter. It’s not every day you see a champion switch rings – from physical to digital.

Crawford, known for crushing opponents, Errol Spence Jr. being the most recent one, is crushing norms instead. This twist in his persona is more than just a flurry of tweets. It’s a declaration, a challenge. What could a boxer, so dominant in the ring, possibly have to say that’s causing such a stir?

Recently crowned by ‘The Ring’ Magazine in their prestigious Pound-for-Pound (P4P) list, Terence Crawford sits at a pinnacle many fighters only dream of.