By Brian Webber: Shakur Stevenson says he’s noticed many angry people in the aftermath of Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford’s ninth round TKO win over Errol Spence Jr, and he feels that he was just doing what he was supposed to do.
What Shakur might be mistaking as anger are boxing fans speculating about why Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) is normally powerful and full of energy, looked so weak & tired throughout the fight, even in the first round.
One gets the impression that Stevenson expects all 100% of the fans to ignore Spence’s physical condition and instead give Crawford full credit for the victory.
In other words, the fans need to be quiet, stop thinking analytically, and start slathering Crawford from head to toe with compliments.
People naturally want to problem-solve when they witness a massacre rather than giving full credit to the fighter that won.
Fans don’t bow down and instantly start worshipping the other fighter if they something amiss, like a guy that looks like he’s not firing on all cylinders. People aren’t simple-minded.
If Spence were a tomato can, they wouldn’t be second-guessing why he looked so weak, lethargic & slow from the opening round. It would be expected, but that wasn’t the case. Spence was viewed as a guy that had been battle-tested his entire career, and this wasn’t supposed to happen.
Something wasn’t right with Spence
“I went back and watched the fight like a thousand times already. I think that was just like one of the best performances I have ever seen in boxing history, especially with the magnitude of that fight,” said Shakur Stevenson to Fighthype, talking about the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford fight.
“When you see the type of fights where it’s 50-50, you don’t see a one-sided domination. I think on that night, Bud was just tremendous. The cream always rises to the top, puts certain people in certain situations, like somebody like Bud, and throws all these things,” said Shakur.
As you can see, Shakur is unwittingly admitting to himself that something was wrong with Spence, but he’s failing to tell it like it is, perhaps due to his hero worship for Crawford.
“You say all these bad things about him, and you say he’s not this and he’s not that,” said Shakur. “He took that as fuel. He let the fuel burn inside of him, and then on that day, he’s going to shine. He came through in his most significant moment and shined the brightest.”
People who had their eyes open last Saturday thought Spence looked like he was roughly 30% normal. He had to have literally gone through hell to make the 147-lb limit, and it left him in the zombie state that we observed.
With Spence’s weight drained condition, even old retired fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr could have beaten him last Saturday night. This an empty, shallow victory for Crawford.
Just because Shakur was impressed with Crawford’s performance doesn’t mean everyone must follow blindly without admitting something was deeply off with Spence.
“I heard so many bad things about me sparring with him,” said Shakur about Crawford. “They said, why would he be sparring somebody my size for that fight? That’s what I heard like over and over.
“Why is he in the ring when Errol is a big guy? Honestly, with my work, I think my work helped him a lot just because of my speed and ring IQ, and I’m able to make him feel a lot more than somebody bigger than him and slower than him.
“I don’t hear anybody talking. Everybody is mad that Bud Crawford did what he was supposed to do. I’m just happy to be a part of it,” said Shakur.
