Terence "Bud" Crawford put on a show against Errol Spence Jr. over the weekend, adding Spence's welterweight titles to his own and becoming the first male two-division undisputed champion.
In the aftermath, talk has naturally turned to what Crawford will do next — either after the reported rematch with Spence later this year or in its stead.
On the DAZN Boxing Show, hosts Ade Oladipo, Akin "Ak" Reyes and Barak Bess put their heads together to come up with the best plan for the 35-year-old, but they first looked ahead towards previously undefeated Spence's future, with Oladipo stating that "it's kind of easier to look forward to the guy that won," so focus started with the losing fighter.
Both Ak and Barak suggested a move out of the welterweight division for Spence.
"He has been at 147 (lbs) for a very long time, and he's won big, big fights at 147," Ak said. "He's a guy that's been wanting to move up in weight class and I'm pretty sure that will suit him well.
"I'm not going to say, 'Hey, Errol should hang it up after one loss, his first loss,' — he fought the best fighter in the world.
"And I think Errol has big fights ahead of him, definitely not at 147, so let's X this division out of it."
After Ak proposed a move up to light middleweight, Barak said Spence should actually go one division further.
"How about skip 154 and go to 160?" Barak asked, noting that Spence's friend Jermell Charlo is the undisputed champion at 154 lbs while the muddied title picture at middleweight is ripe for a disruption. "If [Charlo] goes come back down (to light middleweight after fighting Canelo Alvarez), that's a chance for 'Bud' to go up. So maybe you skip that, go to 160 and see what you can do there."
In coming up with a potential plan for Spence, the DBS hosts also alluded to the most likely courses of action for Crawford.
"Well, we know what he wants next, right? But he has to wait," said Ak, referring to Crawford hoping to move up to light middleweight to challenge for Charlo's titles.
"He's not fighting twice a year, which is the norm for the superstars in the sport," Ak added. "So yes, early next year, it can happen. If Jermell should upset Canelo Alvarez and win (their September fight), that'd be great. But still even if he loses, he can come down and defend his titles so that fight can happen. Maybe [Crawford] just waits."