By Brian Webber: Errol Spence Jr says that Terence Crawford has never fought anyone at his level before, and he’s going to have massive problems on Saturday night in dealing with the huge jump up in competition.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) wants to see how WBO welterweight champion Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) reacts when he begins lighting a fire under him in their headliner on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
If Crawford starts slow, downloading information in the first four to six rounds, he will be dealing with a significant deficit, needing to shut Spence out the rest of the way or score a knockout to win.
It’s unlikely Crawford will start slow because Spence’s punch output & pressure will force the 36-year-old to let his hands go whether he wants to or not.
Crawford has gotten away with starting slow in his fights in the last five years because he’s fought exclusively weak opposition, guys that he could afford to take his time figuring them out, or being lazy before turning it on in the second half.
He can’t do that with Spence because he won’t be able to count on rallying back.
Crawford’s opposition in the last five years:
– David Avanesyan
– Shawn Porter
– Kell Brook
– Egidijus Kavaliauskas
– Amir Khan
– Jose Benavidez Jr
– Jeff Horn
Is the pressure getting to Crawford?
“He’s never fought anyone at my level,” said Errol Spence to the media on Thursday about Terence Crawford. “It’s definitely getting to him. He’s ready to jump on the fans and fight.”
“I saw him today on the podium when they did their face-off, and when he turned to look at the crowd, he was swaying back & forth. He’s mentally checked in for the fight,” said Shawn Porter to Sporting News, talking about Crawford.
“His energy is at fight level already. Both of them mean hurt, but Terence shows how much he means. Errol is very poised in the ring and has that poker face. He’ll show small signs of frustration, but they’ll come & go by the snap of a finger.
“I do think we’re going to get a very strategic fight up to four or five rounds. That’s if somebody doesn’t land something clean that upsets the other. Both guys will still remain poised.”
Crawford-Spence to tactical early
“If anybody is going to get upset & heated, I think it’s going to be Terence. He’s going to be the one that is going to try and push those buttons. But for five or six rounds, this could be that chess match,” said Porters.
It doesn’t matter if Crawford loses his temper and looks to pay Spence back; the pressure is still going to be the same from Errol regardless.
Crawford getting irritated and landing a pay-back shot would only matter was a low out-put fighter, throwing a rare shot. But given that he’s going to be on top of Crawford all night long, throwing nonstop punches, it won’t matter if he’s hit back because this is going to be a back & forth fight.
If Crawford can’t keep with Spence & chooses to run & hold, he won’t win. The only way Crawford wins is by betting on Spence in the trenches, and it’s going to be a difficult fight for him because he’s not a spring chicken at 36.
Crawford has aged since his fight with Porter two years ago, and he’s not slim, fast, or active. His receding hairline shows age well. The last two years have been unkind to Crawford in terms of his aging because he looks like he’s a decade during that time.
That happens with people. They can be aging well, and then ‘bam,’ the aging suddenly accelerates, and they look ten years older in a matter of a year or two.
Crawford didn’t have that two years ago, but it’s definitely low tide now when it comes to his hairline, and that also reflects the aging we see with his speed, mobility, and punch output.
“To some people, ‘This is really slow,’ but to people that really know boxing, until it ends, it’s going to be amazing,” said Porter.
“It’s easier to say with Terence. He’s truly a master thinker in the ring,” said Porter about his fight with Crawford. I could see that boy thinking, and I could not figure out what he was thinking. ”
If Porter were still the same fighter he’d once been after he was beaten up by Spence in 2019, he would have had an easier time figuring out what Crawford was doing because it wasn’t rocket science. There was no guesswork involved if Porter was still on top of his game.
Crawford was flicking a simple jab, and catching Porter with shots as he came forward and then tying him up in a clinch. It was rinse & repeat all night.
Crawford’s strategy to beat Porter:
1. Jab
2. Catch him coming in
3. Tie him up in the clinch
4. Rough him up
That’s all Crawford did, and the fact that Porter was confused by it makes you wonder if the beating Spence gave him did something to his ability to process what’s going on inside the ring. It was so obvious what Crawford was doing because there was no variation.
In hindsight, it’s a good thing Porter retired because if he was confused by what Crawford was doing, it shows that he would have been lost if he continued his career and faced young killers like Jron ‘Boots’ Ennis and would up food.
“That was something that I always considered to be God given to me to be able to know what a fighter is going to do and what a fighter is thinking,” said Porter. “I was not able to figure that out at all against Terence. To me, that’s what solidified him as special. Not the speed, not the power. None of that.
“I don’t know what he was thinking, and I could see this dude. He means hurt every single round,” said Porter.
Again, it’s a good thing Porter retired because if he couldn’t figure out what Crawford was, that suggests that he could no longer follow the simple patterns of fighters and would have been equally lost against almost any top-ten welterweight.
