By Allan Fox: Errol Spence Jr says he’s going to “straight punish” Terence Crawford to “break him” this Saturday, July 29th, in their undisputed welterweight championship on Showtime PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) states that it’s going to be an “ugly night” for WBO 147-lb champion Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs), regardless of what he tries to do.
Errol is going to relentlessly attack Crawford, putting him on the run and breaking him until he quits or is pulled out by his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre.
If Crawford plans to use strafing runs, he’s going to be exposed to taking fire from Spence. It will be risky for Crawford, who will be wide open to penetrating fire with this approach.
This is the way Crawford fought his last opponent David Avanesyan. While it worked against him, it’s going to put him in a vulnerable position if he chooses to follow this same strategy against Spence.
Most believe that Crawford won’t attempt to fight Spence in the trenches. The odds of success are slim if he fights that way.
Crawford is still a pumped-up lightweight built to fight welterweights in a firefight, particularly a guy like Spence, who is more like a junior middleweight.
Spence describes how he’ll beat Crawford
“I think it’s going to be a number of ways I beat him. Pressure definitely, boxing, beating him with fundamentals, using my jab, but the key to me is being just focused 100% and not having any lags in the fight,” said Errol Spence Jr to Higher Learning on how he’s going to defeat Terence Crawford next Saturday night.
It’s vital that Spence have a variety of plans to use for the fight because it’s possible that Crawford will choose to play it safe and fight on the outside all night, using his legs to avoid taking heavy punishment.
In looking at all the running that Crawford is doing in camp, it’s logical to assume that he’s going to box and try and win a decision using an amateur boxing approach to the fight.
“Looking at all the greats like Floyd Mayweather,” said Spence. “They’re always focused on their opponent. The guys that lose focus, even for a split second that can cost you in the fight.
“So for me, just staying focused, listening to my coach, and breaking him down mentally, physically, and win the fight in a dominating fashion,” Errol continued about how he’s going to destroy Crawford.
“I’m going to punish him. I’m going to straight punish him. Everybody sees the way I fight and the way I do. If he can’t hold up physically & mentally to how I fight, it’s going to be an ugly night for him,” said Spence.
Errol will have to be ready to cut off the ring if Crawford chooses to stay on his bike all night because this guy wants to win at all costs, and he’s openly stated that winning is all he cares about. That means Crawford could stay on the move to use a hit & run approach.
It will be “ugly night” for Terence
“It’s going to be an ugly night for him regardless, even if he can hold up,” said Spence. “It’s going to be an ugly night for him. I get enjoyment out of breaking somebody’s will.
“He’s definitely not more skilled than me. I feel like I got way more skills than him. It’s going to be a huge task, but I’m willing to do it. It’s going to be a huge task for him to beat me, too, especially how he beat his other opponents.
“I feel like he can’t do nothing to me. The last ten or eleven guys he knocked out, I feel like he can’t do nothing even slightly the same to me as he did to them,” said Spence about Crawford.
