Stephen Espinoza Explains Why Errol Spence Jr-Terence Crawford Negotiations Collapsed

Showtime president Stephen Espinoza has given some reasons for why the welterweight undisputed title bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford never happened. 

The Crawford-Spence fight was one of the biggest fights to make in 2022. There was a point in time when the two were almost certain to go head-to-head with each other. But suddenly all hell broke loose with Crawford demanding transparency on expenses and the negotiations fell apart at the last moment. 

“There were certain points where a range of issues that Terence brought up that really didn’t get resolved and lingered out there, and then things all fell apart. So no one wants that dynamic again,” said Espinoza to Fight Hub TV. 

“I think a lot of the dragging on was due to Terence’s own asks and the timetable he was responding.” 

“It seemed like a lot of time would go by after each offer, and there was a stubbornness that dug in after certain points that we thought shouldn’t have been insurmountable.” 

With the mega-fight temporarily off the cards, Crawford went on to defend his title against mandatory challenger, David Avanesyan in front of his home crowd at CHI centre, Omaha. Crawford was expected to make a short work of Avanesyan and he did exactly that as he knocked the Russian out cold in the sixth. 

Bud’s performance exactly depicted why he is regarded as one of the greatest fighters of the modern era.   

As far as Spence is concerned, he is still interested in the unification bout. ‘The Truth’ has also shown keen interest in moving up the weight but first wants to finish the business at 147 and establish himself as the supreme ruler at the welterweight.   

He is expected to fight Keith Thurman in a mandatory defense – but his titles won’t be on the line – sometime this year.