By Matt Lieberman: Shakur Stevenson predicts an 11th round knockout victory tonight for Terence Crawford in his undisputed welterweight championship fight with Errol Spence Jr on Showtime PPV.
Although Shakur is a tad bit biased given that Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) is his close buddy, he’s still convinced that he’ll do the job on IBF, WBA & WBC champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The live boxing action begins at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT on Showtime PPV. The price of the Spence vs. Crawford event is $84.99.
It’s difficult to picture Crawford knocking out Spence because that would mean that he would need to be in a one-on-one battle with him to have a shot at doing that.
Crawford isn’t going to knock Spence out by jabbing or throwing long-distance single shots. Crawford topped Shawn Porter only because his dad pulled him out. He might not have gotten the knockout without that happening.
Terence stops Spence in 11th
“Crawford is ready. He doesn’t even got to get into anything else. He’s ready,” said Shakur Stevenson, a good friend of Terence Crawford, talking to Fighthype about his belief that he’s going to beat Errol Spence Jr. tonight.
“Nah, I don’t think it’s going to go the distance. Crawford by knockout. Eleven,” said Shakur when asked which round Crawford will be knocking out Spence.
Crawford has said himself that he just wants to win. He’s not obsessed with getting a knockout because he obviously realizes how hard that’ll be for him.
“He’s probably annoyed by all of y’all,” said Shakur about Crawford losing his temper during the final press conference last Thursday. “I’m not going to say you specifically.
“People in the media, they talk bad on him, and they downplay every win he gets. So, he’s probably fed up and wants to show y’all tomorrow what he’s been working on.
“Take away Spence’s best attribute. His best attribute is his jab. If he takes away his jab, it’ll be an easy night. I think either way, he can take away his jab, but honestly, when Bud turns southpaw, he can get the job done. So I like him being southpaw,” said Shakur.
“Bud looks bigger; he looks ready. Errol Spence still looks bigger. We expected him to come into the fight looking bigger, so there’s no surprise there, but Bud looks completely ready,” said Stephen A. Smith to Showtime.
“To me, this is the most hype for a fight since Mayweather-Pacquiao, and I think it’s worth it. I think this fight is going to be significantly better than the Mayweaather-Pacquiao fight ended up being.
“These guys don’t know how to run. So they can box, they can move, they can jab. They’re exceptionally defensively, but they’re going to be there. I’m not saying it’s going to be an all-out slugfest, but it’s going to be a fight. Make no mistake about it,” said Stephen A.
Crawford will try to take Errol out
“I’m Crawford by decision, and here’s why. I watch Crawford,” said Smith. “He can go conventional, and he can go southpaw. I believe he can fight better at a distance. Not necessarily running away, but backing up to a certain degree, picking his spots.
“Errol Spence just methodically chops you down. I don’t view Terence Crawford as somebody that is going to be right there to be chopped down. He’ll be there to fight but not to be chopped down.
“He’ll step back and pick his moments, and he’ll fight at a distance. He has a slightly longer reach, and he brings power with him. I just think that mean streak that he’s got.
“Errol looks to methodically break you down, but Terence comes to take you out. I just think there’s a difference, and I think that’s the kind of thing that can make a difference in this fight,” said Smith.
