Terence Crawford emerged from the locker room at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas late on Saturday night, walked the long aisle to the arena floor, then scaled the steps to the boxing ring one more time.
He had the World Boxing Organization welterweight title belt, which he has owned since 2018, draped over his left forearm, along with the green World Boxing Council belt, which he had just won from Errol Spence Jr. The other two belts, from the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Association, rested with members of Crawford’s entourage, who followed him to ringside for the postfight news conference.
Crawford greeted Spence, whom he had just defeated by technical knockout in the ninth round of the most important boxing match of the year. Spence, his face red and swollen, and Crawford, his face unblemished, hugged and spoke with each other. Before Spence could exit, Crawford handed him the W.B.C. belt, then gathered the other straps from his team members and handed them to him, too.
Belt exchanges like these are common but seldom seen in public. Boxing’s sanctioning bodies will make new belts for Crawford, who is now 40-0 with 31 knockouts after Saturday’s emphatic win. Spence, 28-1 with 22 knockouts, will retain his as keepsakes.
The postfight ritual hinged on the premise that sold the fight — that Crawford, 35, and Spence, 33, are both champions. But only Crawford is the undisputed champion. The win on Saturday, in which he landed twice as many punches as Spence did, makes him the first welterweight to hold titles from all four major sanctioning bodies.
The belts Crawford handed back will always belong to Spence, but the welterweight division belongs to Crawford.
“The whole world is talking about it, and we put on a great show,” Crawford said.
On paper, the showdown, between previously undefeated champions, was evenly matched. Neither fighter had ever been knocked down, and both tended to win their fights by wide margins. The oddsmakers gave Crawford a slight edge, and the boxers’ records and skill sets also hinted at a close contest.
But people close to Crawford, who is from Omaha, noticed an uptick in intensity during training camp.
“He added to everything he’s doing — more swimming, more running, a lot more recovery,” said Keyshawn Davis, the lightweight contender who trained alongside Crawford in Colorado Springs. “I’ve never seen him put so much into a fight.”