By Sam Volz: George Foreman believes that Errol Spence Jr can win his rematch with Terence Crawford later this year, but he must make sure he doesn’t try to box him like he did last Saturday night in his ninth round TKO defeat.
(Photo credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Foreman feels that Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) used the wrong strategy by trying to box with the skilled counterpunch Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), fighting on the outside and loading up too much on his shot.
What Spence should have done:
– Fight crude
– Stay on inside
– Not throwing hard shots
– Don’t box
Spence seemed lost last Saturday night and was getting worked by Crawford on the outside and inside. When Errol was inside, Crawford would wait for him to throw and then counter with combinations.
It got to the point where Spence was afraid to throw punches and was just tying Crawford up.
What we don’t know is whether Spence was feeling weak from weight loss and whether the fifteen months of inactivity had affected him because he didn’t look nearly as sharp as he had in his previous performance against Yordeni Ugas in April 2022.
“He’s a fine boxer himself, but his main strength is his punching power, and the other guy [Crawford] is a grown man. He’s been practicing his boxing and counter-punching for so long. You can’t box those kinds of guys,” said George Foreman to The Odd Couple, discussing what Errol Spence Jr should have done against Terence Crawford.
It could be that Spence got it into his head that he could box Crawford like he’d done against Mikey Garcia and beat him at his own game. If that was plan A, he should have given up on it right away because it was never going to work.
Crawford’s speed from the outside and his jab were good for Spence to beat him from the outside. Spence was reaching too much and throwing huge windmill shots that he was loading up on.
“You got to go out there and do a crude style of fighting, never landing hard shots,” said Foreman. “You’re not going to get them with a good shot. They get out of the way and just win every round by points.
“Spence could have done that, but his corner was not aware of that. They were just sending him out doing what he was already doing wrong, and he just got caught up. He’s a nice young fighter.
“I think he still has got a good future. He just got beat at something that he doesn’t do well. No doubt about it,” said Foreman when asked if he thinks Spence can beat Crawford in a rematch.
“You go back to the drawing board. Pick out some of the rounds where he did well. When he stayed close to the guy, he did well, but when he stayed out boxing, he got clocked. He could become better.
“Spence is a good fighter. He’s got a good jab. He just couldn’t get his combinations going on a counterpuncher. Those counter-punchers when they get to that age especially, they will ruin your fighters. You got to keep them away, but evidently, they made a lot of money. So what can you say?” said Foreman.
