By Chris Williams: The shark-like Errol Spence Jr. will be leaving his normal hunting grounds to cross the pond to prey on former Top Rank fighter Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford next in a fight that will determine who the #1 fighter is in the 147-lb division.
IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) looked devasting last Saturday night in his tenth round thrashing of former Manny Pacquiao conqueror, WBA champion Yordenis Ugas, last Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.
Coming off a 16-month layoff, looked like a shark in its natural habitat, hunting down Ugas, dragging him into the deeper waters, and ripping him to shreds like a feeding machine.
Spence took away Ugas’ legs with his powerful body shots early, and once the Cuban was immobilized, he slowly bludgeoned him. When Ugas lost his ability to move due to the body shots zapping his mobility, it was a matter of time.
What we saw from Spence in that fight was a trial run in how he’ll take away Crawford’s game by attacking his body, forcing him to stand and fight rather than running around the ring like he does when fighting punchers.
It doesn’t matter if Crawford attempts to stay on the move early, the spearing body shots to the guts will force him to stop moving due to the pain.
Once Crawford loses his ability to move, it’ll be a feeding frenzy for the shark Spence, reducing the Nebraska native to Ugas 2.0, helpless to prevent the inevitable rearrangement of his face.
If Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre has his head switched on, he’ll pull the plug on the fight early to prevent Spence from massacring Terence in the same way he did Ugas and Kell Brook.
Should Crawford be intimidated by Spence?
“No, not intimidated at all,” said Stephen A. Smith to ESPN when asked if Terence Crawford should be intimidated about fighting Errol Spence.
It doesn’t matter if Crawford is intimidated or not by Spence. When he starts getting battered with nonstop punches, confidence or lack thereof will have nothing to do with the end result.
Crawford can be the most confident fighter in the world, and it won’t have a bearing on the outcome.
Moreover, Crawford can use the gimmicky switching of stances that he uses to impress casual boxing fans, that junk isn’t going to work against Spence. If Crawford can’t hang in the trenches with Spence, he’s going to be food for Errol.
“I love me some Errol Spence Jr. This is the fight I want to see. This is the fight more than any other fight that I want to see in boxing, okay? Errol Spence Jr. is 28-0 with 22 KOs, he’s strong, he’s a southpaw, we get all of that,” Stephen continued.
“If this were three years ago or whatever before that car accident, I would have went with Spence. I’m not so sure now. Andre Ward, my brother, please forgive me. You know how phenomenal he is, and the Charlo twins, I got a lot of love for them.
“Let me take a moment to give those brothers some shine. Listen, David Benavidez, going up against, I don’t know about that, [Jermall] Charlo. Benavidez is a bad boy. Okay, people want Canelo and I think is #1 pound-for-pound, #1.
17months out the ring I did ok I’ll be a lot better next time
— Errol Spence (@ErrolSpenceJr) April 18, 2022
“But the Charlo twins are something special. I don’t think they get nearly enough love and shine that they deserve, but let me tell you something about Terence Crawford. This brother is something special, and he’s menacing.
“He had that mean mug a few times, and then he gets in the ring, but excuse my language, but he kicks people’s a**. That’s what he does. Terence Crawford is no joke, and Errol, I could be wrong because it’s a pick ’em thing where styles make fights and all of this other stuff,” said Stephen.
Is Errol too one-dimensional?
“Errol Spence fights one way. Crawford could go either way, conventional or southpaw, and I think Crawford is a little faster,” Smith said. “That doesn’t mean he can’t get hurt by Errol Spence because Errol Spence is powerful.
“But Crawford is faster and seems to be more menacing and I’m looking at them against Shawn Porter, who I love. I love Shawn Porter. I know he’s not on their level, but he’s a really good dude and a really good fighter, okay?
“I saw Spence against him [Porter], and then I saw what Crawford did to him. It’s a different animal, man, and I would have to tell you right now if I had to pick right now, and I reserve the right to change my mind.
“If I had to pick right now, I’d have Crawford as the slight favorite,” said Smith with his belief that Terence would beat Spence if they were to fight right now.
“Listen, I didn’t see people that fought Crawford walking about to the after-party and stuff. He put a few people in the hospital,” said Stephen A when told that Spence put Yordenis Ugas and Kell Brook into the hospital with the beatings he inflicted on them,” said Smith.
Can Crawford live in the pocket against Errol?
“What I mean when I say that’s not boxing is that it takes two for you sit there and stand toe-to-toe in combat,” Stephen A. “Who’s to say Crawford is going to do that? Crawford might do that or Crawford might move.
“The point is we’re talking about a boxing match here, and I’ll telling you, Errol Spence is naturally bigger [than Crawford], okay? He’s a natural welterweight. Obviously, Terence Crawford moved up [from the 140-lb division].
“Errol Spence is a natural welterweight. People have been talking about him going to junior middleweight. He’s at 147 right now. I get all of that.
“What I’m telling you is that Crawford has got power, Crawford is menacing, Crawford is a superb boxer, and what I’m telling you right now, don’t think for one second that Crawford is just going to get punked.
“This is going to be a big-time fight. This is a pick ’em, this is that close. Not against Crawford,” said Smith when told that Spence has a way of stalking his opponents and cutting off the ring. Crawford is a hell of a boxer, big time,” said Smith.
