By Chris Williams: Errol Spence points out that he’s got boxing skills and can switch it up against Terence Crawford on July 29th when he needs to in their clash at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) isn’t the one-dimensional come-forward fighter that some fans think he is. He’ll box in their headliner on Showtime PPV if he feels it’s required against WBO welterweight champion Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs).
IBF, WBA & WBC champion Spence says he won’t move around needlessly and waste energy the way some fighters do, who don’t want to stay in the pocket.
Some would argue that Crawford moves unnecessarily and changes stances, looking to impress geek fans that get worked up when they see that gimmickry, but he’s 100% better when he’s in the southpaw stance.
Spence will play it by ear and adapt it need be against Crawford. What most boxing fans expect to see is Spence going after the 36-year-old Terence, looking to work him over with his high-volume attack, and taking his legs away by targeting his body.
If you look at Crawford’s 39 fights during his fifteen-year professional career, he’s never fought anyone who targeted his body. He’s always faced guys that have targeted his head, and he’s proven to be difficult to hit on a consistent basis.
Spence will be the first that will go after Crawford’s body, and it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts to that. Will Crawford stand and fight or run around the ring to try and keep Spence off him?
Brian Custer: “There are some people say, ‘Man, his [Crawford] versatility, his counter-punching, his athleticism would be too much for Errol Spence.’ What do you say?” said Brian to Showtime Sports.
Errol Spence: “With me and my style, nothing gets to me. I feel like with my skill set my ability, and I just keep coming. Not only just coming, but I’m a guy that can change it up. I’m a guy that can do different things.
“I didn’t become an Olympian, I didn’t just beat all these great amateur guys or pro guys by just having just one attribute; just come forward, throw punches, and just be able to take a punch.
“I’m a guy who can shift it up, do different things, have defense, and I can switch back from offense to defense. I can break a guy down, I can box too. I just don’t do things subtly.
“I don’t feel like it is necessary that I got to move and do all the different things that they do. I feel like that wastes more energy. I ain’t got time for all that.”
We’ve seen Spence box in his fight with Mikey Garcia in March 2019. Going into that fight, fans had been raving about how great a boxer Mikey was, and they felt that Spence would have problems with his skills. Instead, it was Spence who was doing all the boxing and put on a clinic in that fight, making Mikey look like a rank amateur.
Brian: “You’ve got so many guys now with Anthony Joshua and Ryan Garcia. What has that been like now that those guys have joined?”
Spence: “It’s cool. Ryan came for a couple of days, I guess, just to feel out of the gym. Anthony Joshua, he’s been there training full-time, and usually, I train like eight, nine in the morning before the sun comes up.
“So we’ll see each other in passing, but me and Anthony, we talk, and when Ryan came, we talked in passing and stuff like that. So with everybody with Frank [Martin] in the gym, we talk a lot. We do strength & conditioning together.
“So it’s great just to have other great fighters in the gym because it makes you stay on point, especially in sparring and knowing they watching you. So you know you’re trying to work a little harder.”
