It's fair to say Errol Spence Jr. had the worst night of his professional boxing career this past Saturday in Las Vegas. He not only suffered his first professional defeat in what was the biggest fight of his career in a welterweight title unification clash with Terence Crawford — he was also utterly dominated. Other than the first round, Crawford pretty much won every round. Crawford scored three knockdowns during the contest, including two in the seventh round. “Bud” bloodied and bruised him, making him look like he didn't belong in the same ring. Crawford even had time to trash talk super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo as the referee was checking on Spence after a knockdown. In the end, the referee showed mercy to Spence and ended the contest in the ninth round after a barrage of strikes from Crawford.

Spence revealed post-fight that he planned on activating the rematch clause as he looked to run things back with Crawford before the end of the year. That said, it would be a big mistake for “The Truth” to fight Crawford again so soon. In fact, it could even turn out catastrophic for his career. And so, here's why Errol Spence Jr. must not take an immediate rematch with Terence Crawford.

For starters, it doesn't make sense to have an immediate rematch. When the fight was initially (and finally) made, it was expected to be a close and competitive contest between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It's also one of the reasons the rematch clause was put in. At the very least, boxing fans would get to see these two high-level fighters duke it out twice. But now that we've actually seen how the first fight played out, a rematch — at least an immediate one — is pretty much redundant. Yes, Spence can make adjustments and little tweaks and could have a bit more success. However, it seems highly unlikely as there's very little to convince most fans that a second fight would have a different outcome. We don't want a repeat of the Devin Haney vs. George Kambosos Jr. situation.

Perhaps, if the weight cut had significantly drained Spence or if he had a major injury going into the fight which hampered his performance, there'd be a valid reason for a rematch. However, Spence offered no excuses on the night and admitted Crawford was the better man. “He was the better man tonight,” Spence said post-fight. “He was using his jab, and my timing was a little bit off. He was catching me in between shots. … I make no excuses.”

Now, there is a unique clause in that Crawford could pick the weight for the rematch which means it could happen at 147 pounds again or it could take place at 154 pounds — Spence's likely preferred weight should he have won the contest. However, again, there was no indication that the weight played a major factor in the fight as opposed to the gulf in talent. If anything, the added weight could make Crawford even more dangerous for Spence. But even if it took place at 147 pounds again, is there reason to believe Crawford wouldn't damage him in the same manner or potentially worse? What does that then do to Spence's confidence, not to mention, his all-round stock?

The pay-per-view numbers aren't in and while it would be a major surprise if it surpassed 1 million buys, it's still expected to do pretty well with both Crawford and Spence more than likely to make the biggest payday of their careers. That said, another reason why a rematch makes no sense is that a second fight is a much harder sell. If the first contest was competitive, there'd be interest in the rematch. But given how dominant Crawford looked, would anyone other than hardcore boxing fans really go out of their way to tune in again?

Of course, that's not to say Errol Spence Jr. should never fight Crawford ever again. If he really wanted to, perhaps he could even target a rematch when Crawford — two years his senior — is that slight bit older and slower down the line to give him a better shot (though it probably won't affect the result a great deal). That said, Spence is a competitor and he'll want to get a win back sooner rather than later.

However, it'd probably be best if he fought someone else in the meantime. Perhaps he could get some wins over other opponents whether it's at 147 or 154 and regain some of his confidence. There'd certainly be a lot more interest in a rematch if Spence went this route. More than anything, he should take the right amount of time to recover before getting back into the ring. After all, Spence took more damage than he had ever taken before and was knocked down thrice — he had never been knocked down prior to his fight with Crawford.

Errol Spence Jr. still has 30 days from the fight to officially invoke his rematch clause — he should really decide against it.