By Brian Webber: Terence Crawford says his hand will be raised at the end of the night in his fight with Errol Spence Jr on July 29th, and it’ll be up to him to decide if he wants to use the rematch clause in the contract to force a second fight.
Spence obviously isn’t going to want to walk away from a loss to the 36-year-old Crawford without attempting to avenge it, especially with the huge money that can be made in fight #2.
Crawford obviously doesn’t want to jinx himself by revealing whether he will execute the rematch clause if he comes out the loser, but it’s believed that he, too will, will take the second fight.
Spence said last week that he’d be going up to 154 after the July 29th fight, so we could see the rematch with Crawford in that weight class. Crawford would need to agree but probably won’t care what weight the second fight is contested at.
IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is the underdog against WBO champ Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs), but most fans see it as a toss-up.
The event will be shown live on Showtime PPV for $84.99 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“She’s definitely bringing her dancing shoes, so we’re not worried about what he’s talking about,” said Terence Crawford during today’s media workout via Premier Boxing Champions when asked to respond to Spence’s trainer Derrick James recommending that Terence’s mom not bringing her dancing shoes to celebrate on July 29th because he’s going to be losing that fight.
“If I go in there and I win by a first round knockout, I won’t be disappointed because I don’t get paid for overtime. He’s going to have to show me,” said Crawford about Spence, saying that he doesn’t think he can take the pressure.
Crawford isn’t a huge puncher, so the chances of him scoring a first round knockout are slim against Spence. If anyone is going to score an early knockout, it would be Spence because he’s bigger, stronger, younger, and more capable of blasting out an opponent than the 36-year-old Crawford.
“Just win the fight. Listen, we’re both prizefighter. We both make a lot of money in the ring, and we’re going to make a lot of money come next Saturday,” said Crawford. “I don’t worry about what he has planned after me or any of that.
“I don’t worry about going in there and knocking him out. I just worry about going in there and getting the victory, and that’s what I’m going to do next Saturday. One of the reporters said I’m glass. He’s going to break me; he’s going to bulldoze me and do this and do that,” said Crawford.
Terence has knocked out all his opponents at 147, but his opposition has been marginal, a mix of old guys and cellar dwellers.
With the money that Crawford will make in his two fights with Speencee, scoring a knockout is inconsequential. Just winning is what’s important.
“Okay, he’s going to have to show me because all of that is just fuel on the fire that is already burning,” said Crawford. “All the things that people have been saying and all the things that he’s been saying, he’s going to have to prove that on fight night, and that’s when all the answers are going to be.
“We’re going to have to see what he decides because, like I said, I’m winning this fight,” said Crawford when asked if the rematch with Spence will be at 147 or 154. “I’m not thinking about what’s going to happen in the rematch. I’m winning this fight and he’s going to have to decide what he’s going to do.
“I just envision myself getting my hand raised. I never go in there thinking, ‘Oh yeah, I’m getting this knockout’ or ‘Yeah, I’m going to beat him all twelve rounds’ because a fight is a fight. But my hand will be raised,” said Crawford.
