Who will Terence Crawford fight next as welterweight champ?

With a pair of clean shots in the middle of the ring, Terence Crawford stopped Shawn Porter on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The champion looked strong against a very game fighter that won a few rounds, but in the end the champion was just too much from his southpaw stance.

Now that Crawford has handled his business as favorite against Porter, there are two options for the fight everybody wants to see next. The big one is IBC and WBC champ Errol Spence, Jr. There was some talk of them fighting this year but nothing ever came of that. A detached retina cost Spence a date with Manny Pacquiao, and now he is figuring out what’s next. That would unify three of the four major belts.

The other option is WBA champ Yordenis Ugas. Ring Magazine currently ranks the welterweights as Spence at No. 1, Crawford at No. 2, Ugas at No. 3, and Porter at No. 4. The only reason for Crawford to fight Ugas is to unify two of the four belts and set up an eventual division unification bout with Spence.

It’s possible Crawford gets stuck with a mandatory against someone like Vergil Ortiz, Jr. or Mikey Garcia, but the bout people want is Spence vs. Crawford.