By Chris Williams: Errol Spence Jr says he understands why the oddsmakers have made WBO welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford the favorite for their mega-fight on July 29 on Showtime PPV.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) acknowledges that with what he’s gone through in the last four years with two car crashes and a torn retina eye injury, he would make himself the underdog against Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs).
Being an underdog gives IBF, WBA & WBO 147-lb champion Spence motivation to defy the odds and prove people wrong by going out and beating the favorite Crawford to prove he’s the #1 welterweight in the division when they meet at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Spence looked great in his last fight against Yordenis Ugas, stopping him in the tenth round fourteen months ago in April 2022. However, Errol has been in a car crash since then, through no fault of his own, and there’s no way of knowing how that affected him.
What the oddsmakers aren’t taking into account in this fight is the age of 35-year-old Crawford and his weak resume at 147 & 140. Crawford hadn’t had an opponent that was considered an A-level guy since 2014 when he battled Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Crawford has done a good job of beating old timers like Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, and Kell Brook at welterweight, but he’s not faced anyone that was in the prime of their career and talented.
“Did it ever bother you, EJ, that when you looked at, even now, the pound-for-pound rankings, it always had Bud Crawford #1 and Errol Spence #4. You’re the unified champion. You got three of the belts,” said Brian Custer on his Youtube channel.
“Even going into this fight, he’s a slight favorite. Did any of that, when you hear that, did it ever motivate you or upset you at all?”
“Nah, I don’t really pay too much attention to that type of stuff,” said Errol Spence. “I know I thought when this fight, I’ll be the best fighter in the world.
“I could see why he is the favorite. Just common sense. I’m realistic. All the stuff that I’ve been through, and just the stuff that people know about I’ve been through. I would pick him as the favorite too.
“Stuff happens, but I keep defying the odds. Everybody thought I was going to be a shell of myself after I came back from the car crash. I came back and I’ve been doing my thing ever since the eye injury. I came back and have been doing it myself ever since
“I keep defying the odds. So people can keep saying whatever they’re saying and keep talking negatively, but they don’t know. That’s really just added motivation,” said Spence.
“Hey listen, in this sport of boxing, sometimes you got to go through some stuff because that’s what you rely on get in those hard times in a fight,” said Brian. “If you’ve never gone through something, that’s when sometimes those hard fights become a loss for you.”
“Yeah, not only in the sport of boxing, but that’s life,” said Spence.
“That is life, Errol Spence. You’re right,” said Brian.
“You got to go through something,” said Spence. “There’s going to be trials.”
“You’re right about that,” said Brian.
