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BEIJING China's factory activity swung to contraction in July, a private sector survey showed on Tuesday, with supply,

Jurgen Klopp admits it will take time for Alexis Mac Allister to fully find his feet at Liverpool.

Errol Spence Jr plans on activating his rematch clause with Terence Crawford and has revealed the likely date of the rematch as he looks to avenge his knockout loss. In a contest billed as the ‘fight of the year’, the two best welterweights of their generation went to war on Saturday night in a bout that was years in the making. However, Crawford dominated proceedings as he knocked down Spence three times before finally ending the fight at 2:32 of the ninth by TKO to cement himself as an all-time great. The 35-year-old unified the division for the first time in the four-belt era that began in 2004 as he took his overall record to 40-0 (31 knockouts). To his credit, Spence (28-1) admitted he’d been beaten by the better fighter as he suffered a first defeat of his illustrious career. “He was the better man,” said Spence. “He was using his jab, and my timing was a little bit off. He was catching me in between shots. I make no excuses. “He was on a hotter jab, he was timing his jab and he had his timing down on point.” Crawford already owned the WBO belt and took the WBC, WBA and IBF titles from Spence to become the first male boxer to become the undisputed champion in two divisions and has won world titles at three weights. Attention now turns to the mandatory rematch and despite the decisive nature of his defeat, Spence laid out the fact that it will probably happen before the end of 2023. "Hell yeah, we got to do it again,” he said. “I'm going to be a lot better, it's going to be a lot closer. It's probably going to be in December because it's set before the end of the year.” Spence also hinted that he would prefer the rematch to be at a higher weight than the 147lb welterweight limit, with junior middleweight (154lbs) the next division up. The winner gets to decide the weight of the rematch but Crawford also suggested he’d be open to moving up. “It definitely doesn’t have to be at 147,” he said in his post-fight press conference. “I’m in the hurt business. 147 was kinda hard for me, too. “I was already talking about moving up in weight and challenging (Jermell) Charlo, so 154 wouldn’t be out of reach.” Read More Terence Crawford dismantles Errol Spence Jr to become undisputed welterweight world champion Inside the phone calls that made Spence vs Crawford – a generational fight The Independent’s pound-for-pound boxing rankings

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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

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Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford are squaring off in Las Vegas tonight, in one of the most-anticipated boxing matches in years. The American southpaws, both unbeaten, clash to crown an undisputed welterweight champion in a bout that has been years in the making. Spence, 33, carries the WBC, WBA and IBF titles into the T-Mobile Arena, while Crawford, 35, holds the WBO belt. Spence (28-0, 22 knockouts) last competed in April 2022, stopping Yordenis Ugas in the 10th round, while Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) most recently fought in December, beating David Avanesyan with a sixth-round TKO. Spence told The Independent this week: “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. I feel like it’s definitely gonna be on another level. This is a super-fight, people have it as a 50-50 fight.” Meanwhile, Crawford said: “I’m already pound-for-pound No 1, I feel. In my eyes, a win over Errol would just put me as undisputed, pound-for-pound No 1 in everybody’s eyes. There would be no debate.” Follow live updates and results from Spence vs Crawford and the undercard, below. Read More Spence vs Crawford live stream: How to watch fight online and on TV this weekend The factor that could decide Spence vs Crawford super-fight Terence Crawford wins coin toss with Errol Spence Jr to make key fight-night decision

Something’s gotta give tonight as Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) and Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) meet in the ring with a pair of undefeated career records and you can cash in no matter who wins!Boxing fans who sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook and bet $5 or more on Spence Jr. vs. Crawfo...

MEXICO CITY Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday pushed back against estimates made this week about

An overview of the media in Burundi, including links to newspapers and broadcasters.

By Ted Hesson WASHINGTON The Biden administration will allow some migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who

MEXICO CITY Mexico's peso on Friday hit its highest level against the dollar since December 2015, as the