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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 their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 29 July. “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.” There was no such problem when Crawford and Spence picked up the phone, initially bypassing promoters, agents and handlers to try to hash out a deal for a historic fight – one between two unbeaten title holders, to crown an undisputed welterweight champion. “There’s definitely a respect between us, I respect him a lot,” Spence acknowledged, while Crawford said: “It was never nothing [antagonistic], it was all business and respect [on the phone]. “I hit him up on 1 January,” Crawford added. “I sent him a text, just telling him that we need to actually fight, to make history. He was in agreement about us fighting. And at that particular time, I reached out to [promoter] Al Haymon and started back up the conversation. Errol got back on a phone call and started talking about the structure of the fight, the deal. That’s how the fight was made.” “The conversations were just us talking about what was going on with the negotiations, and seeing if we could get to the middle of it – the meat of it,” Spence explained. “Basically there was some stuff that he wanted, which me and my team didn’t agree to [at first].” Eventually, however, agreements were reached. It had been a year of mixed results in terms of talks over marquee fights. Tyson Fury’s prospective clash with Oleksandr Usyk collapsed, despite the latter agreeing to a 70-30 purse split in the Briton’s favour. The Ukrainian made that concession in spite of holding three of the four major heavyweight belts, compared to Fury’s one, and holding an unbeaten record like his potential opponent. A long-awaited bout between Fury and compatriot Anthony Joshua also crashed and burned before it got off the ground, and not for the first time. However, a highly-anticipated showdown between Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Ryan Garcia did materialise, as did huge title fights between Vasiliy Lomachenko and Devin Haney and Josh Taylor and Teofimo Lopez. So, should more fighters take the approach that Spence and Crawford did? “If they’re mature enough, they definitely need to get on the phone with each other and talk,” Spence said. “But I don’t know if they’re as level-headed as me and Terence are, talking and having disagreements but trying to make the fight happen. You’ve got to have a level head to talk to another fighter and just come up with the same scenario. [It was me] talking to my people, and then at some points we had my team and his team, himself and myself. We were always on a call with each other, trying to figure out how to make the fight happen.” Crawford then told The Independent: “If you have two grown men that are willing to set aside their pride and put the hype to the side and come together and both want the same thing, then yes,” before telling another reporter: “I can’t speak on other people’s situations, because I’m not the one trying to make the fight happen with them, but boxers are the ones in charge. “Once a fighter realises that, the advisers, promoters and managers go to work. They’ve got to give the fighter what he wants. You’ve had two cases recently: ‘Tank’ and Garcia wanted to fight each other, and they made sure that deal got done, just like you have Terence Crawford and Errol Spence wanting to fight each other. We both went to our people and got the fight done, so it all comes down to the fighters at the end of the day. “Yeah, our handlers want to look out for our best interests and make sure we make the best business decision at the right time, but it’s up to us as fighters to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There’s a lot of fighters that can say, ‘No, I don’t wanna fight this guy; I want him, give me him,’ and if the opposing fighter is saying the same thing, there’s nothing anyone can do but to make the fight happen.” And so, one of the most-anticipated fights of a generation did happen, as Spence carried the WBC, WBA and IBF welterweight titles into the T-Mobile Arena, while Crawford brought the WBO belt. On a shocking evening, it was not the ‘50-50’ fight that most expected it would be. Crawford produced a masterclass to dismantle Spence, dropping him once in the second round and twice in the seventh, before overwhelming his rival to force a TKO in Round 9. And while Spence will have been devastated by the result and the manner in which it came about, he deserves immense credit for ensuring that this fight, which so many fans craved for so many years, came together. He deserves credit for taking the risk. “I definitely think it’s something that would’ve been hanging over our heads for our whole careers, if we didn’t make this fight happen,” Spence admitted to The Independent, ahead of the fight. “It’d have been tied to us all the time. ‘Man, Spence, I wish he would’ve fought Terence.’ Or, ‘Man, I wish Terence would’ve fought Spence.’ It would’ve been that super-fight that didn’t happen.” Meanwhile, Crawford said before the bout: “It means a lot, but at the same time, there are a lot of other fights in the history of boxing that didn’t happen. So, if the fight with Errol didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be the first and I wouldn’t be the last to have people talking about them like that. It’d just be another fight on the list.” Thankfully, the fight did not belong on such a list. Rather, it belongs on a list of all-time great performances in boxing super-fights. Read More Terence Crawford dismantles Errol Spence Jr to become undisputed welterweight king What time does Spence vs Crawford start tonight? How to watch Spence vs Crawford online and on TV tonight Exclusive look at Terence Crawford’s ring gear ahead of clash with Errol Spence Jr The meaning behind Terence Crawford’s ring gear in Errol Spence Jr clash Terence Crawford wins coin toss with Errol Spence to make key fight-night decision

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM A top Israeli lawmaker said on Sunday that any forging of relations with Saudi

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Max Verstappen took pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix despite an X-rated radio row with his race engineer. Verstappen was embroiled in a squabble with Gianpiero Lambiase after he only just made it through to Q3 during a wet-dry session at Spa-Francorchamps. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Daniel Ricciardo is back – and this time he wants to go out on top But the championship leader regained his composure at the business end of qualifying to demolish the opposition, finishing eight tenths clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with Sergio Perez third in the other Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth. However, Verstappen will only start Sunday’s race from sixth position as he serves a five-place grid drop for exceeding his gearbox allocation. Follow live updates from the Belgian Grand Prix with The Independent Read More Daniel Ricciardo is back - and this time he wants to go out on top Carlos Sainz interview: ‘All of us at Ferrari expected more – we haven’t done the best job’ Max Verstappen receives penalty for Belgian Grand Prix

The popular streamer and internet personality has shared a concerning video of himself being rushed to hospital with what he calls a "deadly headache." The 18-year-old, who has more than 18 million subscribers on YouTube alone shared a video in the early hours of Sunday from an ambulance where he appeared to be being rushed to hospital. The influencer, real name Darren Watkins Jr, was noticeably distressed with one eye closed and the other severely swollen. He told fans: "Right now, I have one of the worst experiences I am having right now. I can't even open up my eyes. I have this thing called a cluster headache. A deadly headache disease. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't do anything right now. "It hurts so bad, chat. It hurts so bad. I can't do anything. It hurts. Everything I do, like, something pounding my head every time and I'm so angry. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The Ohio native went on to add: "My eye's puffing up. It feels like a stab. It feels like somebody is stabbing my eye with a knife. Boom, boom, boom, boom. And, I have a headache right in this area (the streamer puts his hand on top of his right eye and the temple). It's literally exactly like this. He ended the one-minute video on an ominous note: "I wanted to give y'all boys (an) update because I don't know what's going to happen to me. You know what I'm saying? I want y'all boys to always be right there with me, until I die. It's... I don't know, man. But, when I get back home, I'm going to probably chill from traveling for a bit because... a lot is going on. Bye." ? www.youtube.com The video has already been viewed more than one million times with many expressing their concern and sending their best wishes to Speed. Speed had earlier uploaded another short video titled 'I might die' where the YouTuber complained about having a 'cluster headache' where he complained about being unable to sleep or eat. According to the NHS, cluster headaches are rare but are 'excruciating attacks of pain in one side of the head, often felt around the eye.' They are most common in men in their 30s and 40s and are not considered to be life threatening and can be treated with over-the-counter medicine and paracetemol. Speed's father has since shared and update stating that his son is feeling better and encouraged others to send their support to make sure he feels himself again. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Palestinian factions are meeting in Egypt to discuss reconciliation efforts amid surging violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank

Stuart Broad was given a guard of honour as he made his way to the wicket for the final time on Sunday but England added just six runs to their total, setting Australia 384 to...

The Central African Republic went to the polls Sunday in a highly anticipated vote on a new constitution, which could remove presidential term limits