By Sam Volz: Chris Algieri says Errol Spence Jr could break Terence Crawford down with his size, work rate, and power on July 29th.
What Algieri isn’t sure about with Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is the injuries he’s sustained from two car crashes and his torn retina eye problem in the past. Both guys are aging, with the 35-year-old Crawford a little older than the 33-year-old Spence.
Crawford has knocked out all his opponents since moving up to 147, but his opposition has been run-of-the-mill guys who have seen better days.
IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Spence and WBO champ Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) are headlining on Showtime PPV for $84.99 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
This could be the farewell for both fighters at 147, as they’re talking about moving up to 154 next year. The two will probably meet at welterweight for the likely rematch later this year and then move up in weight.
Crawford has got to have his cardio together for this fight because he may be forced to fight at a fast pace due to Spence’s high work rate. If Crawford chooses to move for twelve rounds, that’s going to be equally important for him to be in top shape.
“Could Crawford be too skillful, too special? Yes,” said Chris Algieri to Fight Hub TV when asked if Terence Crawford is potentially too skillful for Errol Spence Jr. “Can Spence be too big and too good? Yes.
“I can see so many different ways. It’s one of those fights where it’s a true 50-50 fight, which is so hard to say in any kind of era in terms of boxing matchups,” said Algeri.
Spence hasn’t fought in over a year since his fight with Yordenis Ugas in April of 2022, and that was one in which he got hit a lot, just like in his 2019 match-up with Shawn Porter.
Interestingly, Ugas hasn’t fought since that fight either, which could be a product of the punishment he took. It was that kind of war.
“I could see Crawford stopping Spence. I could also see Spence beating up and stopping Crawford. That’s how crazy the fight is. It’s that kind of matchup,” said Algieri.
Spence-Crawford could come down to which of the two has a better chin because Spence is going to force Crawford to fight whether he wants to or not.
Crawford isn’t young enough to move for twelve rounds, and even if he was, Spence could target his body to take his legs away.
“I’m going to do a more intense breakdown leading up to the fight in the next couple of weeks if we have time,” said Algieri. “I’m going to switch stances on this over and over again because I was always pro-Spence.
“Then, when Crawford has become more of a welterweight. He’s grown into the weight class, and he’s a 100% knockout percentage at welterweight; he’s a very, very dangerous guy.
“Spence definitely has the better competition. There’s no question about the competition. Yes, with everything withstanding, but Crawford doesn’t have two car accidents and a torn retina.
“Spence does,” said Algieri when asked if Crawford’s less-than-impressive opposition at 147 means he’ll be pushed to the edge when he takes a huge step up in class against Spence.
“Listen, those are major situations to think about. Things that are going to affect the fight one way or another. They make things a lot closer in terms of my mind.
“Like I said, I was always favoring Spence coming into the fight, but now that Crawford has grown into the weight class and Spence has had out-of-the-ring issues, health issues.
“Both men are aging. Crawford is a little bit older. So there are a lot of factors in the fight in the match-up that could potentially have major consequences,” said Algieri.
