By Allan Fox: Tim Bradley believes Terence Crawford won’t be given a fair shake by the judges in his fight with “A-side” Errol Spence Jr and will need to knock him out or hurt him multiple times for him to win on July 29th.
Bradley is convinced that the judges will be mesmerized by IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Spence’s volume punching, pressure, and popularity, and they won’t give WBO champ Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) credit for the good work that he’s doing in the fight.
With his mind made up that Crawford, 36, will need to go above & beyond what’s normally needed to win, Bradley says he must become a snake on the night and strike whenever he sees Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) making a mistake.
Bradley wants Crawford to ensure that he doesn’t get off to a slow start in the fight because he has a bad habit of doing that, and this isn’t a match where he can afford to lose rounds early on.
The problem with Crawford starting fast is that he’s going to put himself in harm’s way, and he’s already shown himself to have a fragile chin in the past. If Spence hurts Crawford, he’s got the talent to finish the job.
Terence needs a knockout of Spence
“Crawford has got to be a snake, and he has to strike like a snake. Any movements, any mistakes Spence makes, he’s got to strike,” said Tim Bradley to Fighthype on his advice for Terence Crawford to beat Errol Spence Jr. on July 29th.
“Yeah, he’s going to have to knock. He’s going to have to knock out Spence, hurt him several times, and drop him. He’s going to have to, I feel, to be able to win on the scorecards in Vegas. It’s because Spence is the A-side here. We know that” said Bradley, sounding deeply worried for Crawford.
What Bradley doesn’t mention is Crawford needs to increase his low work rate because that’s his biggest problem in this fight. If the judges see Spence backing Crawford up all night, out-landing him 3 to 1, they’re going to give the rounds to Errol.
Can Crawford knock out Spence? It’s doubtful, and if Crawford attempts to, he’s going to put himself in harm’s way of Spence’s big shots, and he’ll wear down the aging fighter, who is starting to show age.
Spence will win rounds with high output
“He got a strike, and he has to get off to an early start,” Bradley says about Crawford. “He cannot let early rounds drag by and fall behind the eight ball. He cannot afford that.
“I only say that because Spence gets stronger as the fight goes on. The dude doesn’t slow down. If you’re expecting him to slow down, he doesn’t slow down,” said Bradley.
Crawford isn’t going to beat Spence by jabbing from the outside and throwing single pot-shots. That’s not going to do the job. If Crawford wants to win, he’s going to need to get in the trenches with Spence and try to out-slug him in a war.
Crawford is ill-prepared for that warfare against a rugged, experienced, battle-tested vet like Spence.
“It’s like in the beginning, he’s warming up his engines, and then he’s just smooth sailing,” said Bradley about Spence. “He’s in cruise control, he just rolling, steamrolling forward, and it’s going to be hard if he goes with the scorecards because you know that he’s going to get the favor because of the volume being thrown.
“So, try to land something; try to counter as often as possible. Not with one but in combination sequences and get off a little bit earlier to an earlier start for Crawford. I still got Crawford winning because of his versatility.”
It would be in Crawford’s interest to at least try and match Spence’s high punch output because he can’t expect to win if he’s getting outworked all night.
It also doesn’t help Crawford that Spence punches harder, and he’s the one that will be pushing the fight. Judges don’t favor runners, so Crawford will need to stand his ground if he wants to win because the fight isn’t taking place in Omaha, Nebraska.
“Where I think Spence is weak at is his patterns, and they’re all in his jab sequences,” said Bradley. “When I watch him, I see the double jab, and I know the left hand is probably coming next. Spence, if you cover up in front of him, you already know he’s going down to your body.
“So what I would say for Crawford is to recognize the sequences. Don’t rush, and Crawford knows this. He’s going to stay underneath himself and try and force mistakes from Spence,” said Bradley.
