Spence vs Crawford LIVE: ‘Bud’ produces masterclass before sealing stoppage win

Errol Spence Jr has revealed that Derrick James sometimes needs to rein in Anthony Joshua during training sessions, such is the heavyweight’s desire to keep learning.

Joshua parted ways with long-time coach Rob McCracken in 2022, before working with Robert Garcia in the lead-up to a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk last August. The result was the same for “AJ”, however, as the Briton fell to a decision defeat by the Ukrainian, just as he had in 2021.

Joshua, 33, then switched coaches again this year, partnering with James ahead of an April bout with Jermaine Franklin. After training under James in Dallas, Joshua outpointed Franklin in London to get back to winning ways. And Joshua is now back in the US, preparing for an August rematch with Dillian Whyte, whom he knocked out in 2015.

Spence, a long-time pupil of James, has been training alongside Joshua ahead of tonight’s undisputed-title fight with Terence Crawford, and the unified welterweight champion told The Independent this week: “I never had any thoughts about him [in the past], but AJ’s a cool dude. He’s very cool, level-headed.

“He trains hard. Derrick has said to him to calm down or, ‘That’s enough for today,’ because he’s always trying to learn new things.”

Full story:

The main card is due to begin at 1am BST (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET), with ring walks for the main event expected at around 4am BST (8pm PT, 10pm CT, 11pm ET).

Errol Spence Jr knew this time would be different. For the best part of five years, fans had debated what a fight between the two best welterweights of their generation would look like. Promoters had spoken in public and in private about whether fans would get a look at that fight at all. On more than one occasion, the contest seemed to be within grasp before drifting out of reach. But when Terence Crawford texted him, Spence Jr knew this time would be different.

“I think it really took us just getting on the phone, and talking to each other,” Spence told The Independent over Zoom, a week out from Saturday’s fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “It took us relaying different messages to each other about the negotiations, and basically me just giving him stuff that he wanted to make the fight happen. I didn’t really want much. The big obstacles were the [purse] split and the ring walk.”

Such obstacles could not have been overcome without Spence and his fellow American sharing a mutual respect, both fighters told The Independent, with Crawford saying on a call with other reporters: “You’ve got a lot of people that put on a little circus act and start going about things the wrong way – being disrespectful, taking it to another level that it doesn’t need to be taken to. Sometimes, you can’t come back from that.”

Full story and a great read by Alex Pattle on how this fight was made:

At the time the fight was announced, Errol Spence Jr claimed that this bout with Terence Crawford, “one of the biggest fights of the century”, may simply be a ‘one-sided a**-whooping’.

Spence Jr, 33, will enter the T-Mobile Arena as unified welterweight champion, while Crawford, 35, holds the WBO title. As such, an undisputed champion will emerge from their contest, as long as it does not end as a draw.

“Finally giving the fans what they want!” Spence Jr wrote on Instagram when the fight was announced. “This one [is] a throwback fight on paper but it could be a one sided a** whooping. One of the biggest fights of the century.”

In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) pay-per-view, at a cost of £19.95. In the US, the card will be on Showtime pay-per-view, priced at $84.99.

Errol Spence (WBC, WBA, IBF champion) vs Terence Crawford (WBO champion) (welterweight)

Isaac Cruz vs Giovanni Cabrera (lightweight)

Nonito Donaire vs Alexandro Santiago (vacant WBC bantamweight title)

Yoenis Tellez vs Sergio Garcia (super-welterweight)

Steven Nelson vs Rowdy Montgomery (super-middleweight)

Jose Salas Reyes vs Aston Palicte (super-bantamweight)

Jabin Chollet vs Michael Portales (lightweight)

Justin Viloria vs Pedro Borgaro (super-featherweight)

Demler Zamora vs Nikolai Buzolin (lightweight)

Kevin Ventura vs DeShawn Prather (welterweight)

Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford square off in Las Vegas tonight in one of the biggest fights of this generation.

Fans have waited for this bout for years, and finally it has materialised, with the unbeaten Americans clashing on Saturday to crown an undisputed welterweight champion.

Spence, 33, is the WBC, WBA and IBF champion, while Crawford, 35, holds the WBO title. Spence will carry a professional record of 28-0 (22 knockouts) into the T-Mobile Arena, while Crawford is 39-0 (30 KOs).

Spence has not fought since April 2022, when he stopped Yordenis Ugas to collect the WBA belt, while Crawford most recently competed in December, retaining his title with a knockout of David Avanesyan.

Welcome along to live coverage of Errol Spence Jr vs Terence Crawford, the most highly anticipated fight of the year.