By Chris Williams: Paulie Malignaggni feels that Errol Spence Jr’s natural size, power, fast pace, body punching, and consistency will prove to be too much for the smaller, weaker & older Terence Crawford on July 29th.
Paulie likes Crawford’s versatility, and he says he’s his #1 pound-for-pound fighter, but that stuff was done against vastly inferior competition.
Beating lesser guys is what Crawford has done his entire career, and he’s only now fighting an elite-level guy in Spence. It’s disappointing that it’s taken Crawford to the end of his career to when he’s finally being put with class.
Malignaggi sees IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) wearing down & stopping the 36-year-old Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) at some point in the fight to get the win.
All the switch-hitting junk that Crawford uses to impress the ultra-hardcore boxing fans that marvel about that won’t help him win the fight, and he’ll end up getting battered to pieces by the bigger, stronger & more rugged Spence.
Spence too big for Crawford
“I think Errol’s too big, and the natural size is going to be a bit too much for Terence to deal with,” said Paulie Malignaggi to WCS.
“Terence isn’t offended by it. He likes that kind of stuff. He likes to prove people like me wrong. You go out there, put on a good show, and we’ll see how it plays out.”
Crawford’s tendency to get irritable when getting hit will likely result in him bending the rules to try and gain an edge by hitting Spence with some low blows thrown with everything on them. Will Crawford report to dirty pool to try and beat Spence? Chris Williams thinks so. As the saying goes, ‘If you can’t beat them, cheat.’
We saw Crawford resort to this tactic when he was getting outboxed by Amir Khan in 2019. The low blow that Crawford hit Khan with in the sixth round was so debilitating that his trainer pulled him out when he realized that he wouldn’t be able to recover from that shot to make it out of the round.
“I think Terence is more versatile, and he’s actually my number one guy on the pound-for-pound list,” said Malignaggi. “It’s one of those interesting things. Head to head, I think Errol wins the fight, but I think Terence is the more complete fighter.”
It’s great to be versatile, but when you’re showing that against poor opposition, it kind of takes away the shine.
If Crawford was beating the killers his entire career instead of ham & eggers, you could give him more credit, but he hasn’t fought talented guys.
“But at welterweight, I think Spence will cause a pace and physicality to the fight that the smaller guy will be worn down by,” said Malignaggi. “Errol is just a little bit too big, and combined with the physicality, it will be a little bit too much for Terence to deal with.
“The question is can Terence switching from righty to lefty slow down the pace just enough? Not because Errol will get tired, but sometimes you get confused, and you kind of pause your pressure a little bit.
“Can you confuse Errol just enough to give yourself enough breaks just to give yourself advantages so you can go into the later rounds with enough energy to hold off Errol and beat him?” said Malignaggi.
Errol’s pressure & body punching
“Will Errol’s pressure nonstop making it physical on the inside with body punching that wears you out to where all that versatility doesn’t matter,” said Malignaggi. “Once you get fatigued, you’re going to get beat up. That’s the questions thaat are up in the air.”
It’s pretty obvious that Crawford will be moving all around the ring all night, looking to escape Spence’s pressure on July 29th. Will Crawford hold his ground and not run?
At times, he’ll stand and fight, but once he starts getting hacked to pieces by Spence, he’ll get on his bike and flee like Marcus Reno from the battlefield.
“In general, it’s something to consider the way that Errol was in an accident and the detached retina and some things that have happened outside of the ring,” said Malignaggi. “Him not being busy. He hasn’t fought in the Ugas fight, whereas Terence at least had the Avanesyan fight in December.”
Spence’s inactivity could be a problem, but Crawford has had the same issue. You can’t count his fight with David Avanesyan as being active because that was such a low-level opponent that it was more like regular gym work rather than a true fight.
“It could be a little bit of ring rust, and at this age, it could affect you a little bit more,” said Malignaggi. “Also, Errol has been fighting at welterweight since the amateurs. So your body fills in and gets bigger.
“Just because you’re fighting at the same weight, it doesn’t mean you walk around at the same weight. So, he’s [Spence] probably having to drop a lot more weight than he used to.
“I’ve been hearing about Errol moving up in weight for years now. The guy can’t hold the weight, but he’s found ways regardless. It’s certainly not something that you put into the pot. That part, you can’t predict,” said Paulie.
Will Errol make weight?
“I hope he doesn’t miss weight. Hopefully, everything ends well for everybody else,” said Malignaggi. “I feel like, Errol, with that kind of physicality, you get a late stoppage.
“He’s a good body puncher as well and a sneaky body puncher,” said Malignaggi about Crawford. “Remember, he knocked out Indongo with a body shot.
“But again, the consistency combined with the physicality of Errol for me, and he’s a natural welterweight. Terence was winning world titles at lightweight. So, I feel like a naturally bigger guy is going to be a bit stronger.
“I’m not rooting for anybody. I’m just watching the fight. I’m giving you a prediction, but I’m not sitting here rooting for my prediction.
“I’m going to sit back and watch the fight between two guys I’m a fan of, and hopefully, the best guy wins,” said Malignaggi.
