By Brian Webber: Errol Spence Jr fights Terence Crawford tonight for the #1 welterweight spot in the division in what is expected to be a war from start to finish at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The live boxing action tonight for Spence-Crawford begins at 8:00 p.m. ET on Showtime PPV. The Spence & Crawford main event will likely be well after 10:00 p.m. ET, as there are a couple of good undercard fights involving these guys:
– Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Giovanni Cabrera – Co-feature
– Nonito Donaire vs. Alejandro Santiago
The remaining undercard is mostly obscure prospects matched up against lesser opposition in showcase fights.
Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) has made it clear what he intends on tonight when he gets in the ring with the switch-hitter from Omaha. Errol is going to take the fight to him and ruin his dreams of becoming a two-time undisputed champion.
Spence says Crawford does the same thing each fight without variation to try and win, and those are these two:
1. Outpoint
2. Catch you sleeping
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) is the favorite with many fans & the oddsmakers, but most of them are forgetting that he’s fought low-level opposition his entire 15-year career, and he’s very old at 36, showing his age in his face & physiques.
When you get an old guy that has matched against exclusively lesser opposition like Amir Khan & Kell Brook, you can’t accurately predict what that fighter is going to do.
Spence vs. Crawford prediction
Crawford will try and jab Spence from the outside and catch him with shots as he’s coming in. This is the same routine that Crawford always uses to win his fights against the sub-level opposition he’s been fighting his entire 15-year pro career.
Spence will easily win the battle of the jabs due to his power, which will force Crawford to switch to plan B to start brawling. Once that happens, it’ll be the beginning of the end for Crawford because he’s not suited for war against a rugged, elite-level fighter like Spence, and we’ll quickly see him getting beaten down by the Texas native.
Prediction: Spence stops the bloody & battered Crawford in the 8th round, leaving him in a pile of flesh on the canvas.
“If you were to lose this fight, what do you think it’ll do to your career?” said Stephen A. Smith on his Youtube channel, talking to Errol Spence Jr. about his fight tonight against Terence Crawford on Showtime PPV.
Errol Spence Jr: “Even if I win the fight, it’s about how I win the fight. It’s the same thing with him. I feel it’s how you win and how you lose. If you lose and go out on your shield. Of course, you’re going to have your hecklers and people saying something crazy, and people are going to respect you for it.
“It’s how you win. If you’re going to win, running around the ring, not getting caught, and people still laugh at you. But if you fight a good fight, look sharp, and you win, you look great.
“I think it’ll definitely boost my career when I win this fight. If I lose, it’s how you lose. I don’t see myself losing this fight.”
Errol will adapt early
Stephen A. Smith: “Shawn Porter called you a commander-in-chief. You go into the ring, and you essentially figure out how you’re going to beat somebody and how you’re methodically going to go about handling that.
“That’s basically what he was saying. He says that Terence Crawford is the type of person that goes into the ring and says, ‘This is what I’m going to do. What are you going to do about it?’
“That’s the difference between you two as fighters. He didn’t go on to say who was going to win. I didn’t see that part, but he was basically drawing a distinction between the two fighters.
“You’re more of a commander in chief; you’re methodical, you wear people down, you figure them out, you basically dictate things. In the case of Terence Crawford, it’s ‘This is what I’m going to do, and there ain’t a damn thing you’re going to do about it.’
“Do you feel that makes Terence Crawford, without question, your toughest opponent and a fighter that you should be wary of more than any fighter you’ve fought?”
Spence: “Definitely, I’m wary of him because he’s my toughest opponent to date, and I’m his toughest opponent to date. Yeah, Shawn Porter is partially right in that respect because I’m a guy that has an idea of what I want to do and what I’m going to do, but I really don’t know until the first or second round. ‘I can do it this way, or I can do it that way.’
“Crawford does the same thing each and every fight. He’ll do some slipping and catching you with different shots. Basically, it’s going to be the same thing. He’s going to outpoint you and catch you sleeping and catch you, and then you’re going to be out on your feet.
“I’m more of a break you down and see what you’re going to do, and I react off the stuff you do.”
