By Craig Daly: Oleksandr Usyk is picking Terence Crawford to defeat Errol Spence in their undisputed welterweight championship match on July 29th.
The unified heavyweight champion Usyk says he views WBO 147-lb champion Crawford as a “great boxer,” and he sees him doing some similar things as him in his fighting style.
What makes things difficult to know about picking the winner of the Spence-Crawford fight is that what fans remember about both of these guys are things from the distant past, as they rarely fight anymore.
It’s been years since Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) looked great against top-rung competition.
So while you can say that Crawford or Spence are going to win because of this or that, you’re basing your judgment on what they did from 2019 and earlier, because both have rarely fought since 2020.
“It’s a great fight. I like Terence. He’s a great boxer. I think Terence wins. That’s my opinion,” said Oleksandr Usyk to Fighthype, picking Terence Crawford over Errol Spence Jr.
“There are some similar things when Terence switches his stance, but it’s normal,” Usyk said on whether Crawford has a similar style to him. “All fighters from all over the world, watch each other’s fights and absorb some positive things,” said Usyk.
Crawford fights better out of the southpaw stance. When he fights in the orthodox stance, he’s less than remarkable. Against Errol, Crawford would be wise to stay at southpaw and not switch back and forth, thinking he’s going to confuse him.
“Then when you watch someone’s doing something extraordinary for you, you try it in training, and if you succeed, you feel like, ‘Wow, that’s great. I can use it in my fights as well,'” said Usyk.
Prograis sees Crawford knocking out Spence
“I can see Errol walking Crawford down and beating him up with a
jab, and then maybe stopping them,” said Regis Prograis to Fighthype. “But at the same time, I can see Crawford switch-hitting against Errol
and catching to him with some stuff too.
“I can see both of them knocking each other out. Like literally,
like I can, it can play in my head like Crawford can knock Errol out, and I feel like Errol cannot knock Crawford out.
“I know I’m going to be in the building for sure. I got to be front row
for that fight. That’s a huge fight, and I definitely want to see
that fight for sure,” said Prograis.
