By Allan Fox: Shane Mosley wants Errol Spence Jr. to take a tune-up before he fights Terence Crawford if he decides to go in that direction.
Shane isn’t saying who he would like to see Spence fight, but it could be a waste of time if he doesn’t fight someone good.
Mosley feels that Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) needs to get his head checked out by a doctor to make sure that he didn’t suffer internal damage to his brain in his ninth round knockout loss last month against Crawford on July 29th.
Shane notes that the 33-year-old Errol lost a lot of weight in training camp, going from 185-190 to 147, which weakened him for the fight with Crawford. Mosley thinks that the loss of water may have affected him during the fight with Crawford.
Given that Spence likes to eat well between fights, it’s not a good idea to fight Crawford at 154 because that’s not heavy enough if Errol balloons up to 190.
If Spence is going to drown his sorrows in drink or rich foods to try and forget what happened to him, he’s likely to return to 190. To take that kind of weight off the right way takes many months.
Spence was inactive for too long
“I think the fight could have been a better fight if Spence was prepared better,” said Shane Mosley to the Art of Dialogue about Errol Spence Jr. in his fight against Terence Crawford.
“I think he stayed out [of the ring] too long, maybe a year or two years, and he was having a good time out there, maybe partying and doing stuff and got his weight up to about 185 190, or something, trying to get down to 47.”
Spence was out of the ring for a year and a half before fighting Crawford, and he’d put on a lot of weight since last year. This writer saw Spence five months ago, and he was unrecognizable.
I thought I was looking at another person because he was huge and not the guy that had fought last year.
“He did all the things that you can’t do if you’re going to get there with Crawford,” said Mosley. “You can’t gain all that weight and try to lose it and then think you’re going to be strong enough for somebody like Crawford.
“You have to be 100 percent. They do talk about the car accident. Yeah, he fought twice afterward, but still, that plays a big role. I popped by Achilles four months before I fought Pacquiao. I fought him, got dropped, got back up.
“Nobody really knew about it, but it took a toll on me. I couldn’t really fight. I pulled my groin when I fought Mayweather. I almost knocked him out, but I couldn’t finish the job because I was injured before that before the fight. So people didn’t know that.
“With that being said, I thought Crawford was a better fighter as far as all the way around. Crawford has the movements. He’s southpaw, right-handed.
‘I noticed when they were getting ready to fight when they started doing the mitts and stuff how stiff and straight up and down Spence was, even though he does have a little power, straight up and down.
I know Crawford had the movement. Yeah, he’s ready. Right when I saw that, I said Crawford wins. It didn’t matter if Spence was not strong or strong. He had more of the stuff to win that fight, and Crawford is a game player,” said Mosley.
Spence was inactive for too long
“He’s going to come, and he’s coming to win. I still say Crawford anyway, but I feel bad that we didn’t see the true Spence fight, Crawford, if that makes any sense,” said Mosley.
“I just think that Crawford has more rhythm, more movement, more stuff, and not just having more movement and more stuff. He has the power and everything just to be one of those great fighters.
“You have Spence. Spence is not one-dimensional, but in that fight, he was really one-dimensional, really stiff. He looked like he had a lot of problems trying to get down to his weight.
“He didn’t have enough time to work on stuff they needed to work on to attack Crawford or to do anything to Crawford. Then, when they got in the ring, he was so weak. Crawford was dropping him with a right jab.
“I’m like, ‘Dang, Bud is just dropping him.’ Come on, I don’t know. His legs were weak. He couldn’t do it. I know that that couldn’t be the real Spence.
“Yes, I would like to see him fight again when Spence is at his best, but I still say Crawford wins. I still give Crawford the edge, but I would like to see a better fight from Spence.
“I think Crawford has the edge and will win,” said Mosley when asked if he thinks Crawford will beat Spence in the rematch at 154. Yeah, I think he has a mental edge now and will win.”
Errol needs tune-up
“Me myself, I would take a rematch. I’ve done that so many times. For him [Spence], I think he should go get himself checked. I think somebody said that Spence should go get himself checked just to see what’s going on with him,” said Mosley.
“When you make weight like he did, dropping all that weight, when you get hit with a power punch like that, you no longer have water around your brain where when you get hit, your brain is hitting your skull. That’s damage.
“I don’t know if he understands that type of damage, but it’s long-lasting damage. So he needs to get himself checked and make sure he’s alright, and then go back to the drawing board and train himself.
“Maybe he should take some time off and get a fight here or there. Let one of the Charlo brothers fight Crawford, and then come back and try it again. Then, exercise the rematch, but maybe he shouldn’t exercise it right away.
“Take a fight, then exercise it,” said Mosley about Spence.
