By Allan Fox: Trainer Abel Sanchez says Errol Spence resembled a “skeleton” during the final press conference for his fight with Terence Crawford on July 29th and looked like he’d “lost too much weight” without putting it back on.
It’s believed that Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) started training camp at too high a weight, reportedly 190 lbs, and ultimately, it was too much for him to take off without leaving him in the depleted ‘Night of the Living Dead’ state for the fight.
Sanchez feels that Crawford fought well and looked good, but he wasn’t fighting anywhere near the best version of Spence.
The way that Spence looked on the night of the fight, he’d have lost to all the top 15 fighters in the welterweight division, and he’d made them all look like the second coming of Sugar Ray Leonard.
Crawford & his trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre don’t want to hear that Spence wasn’t 100% because they want the full credit for the victory, and they’re not getting it with the hardcore boxing fans who know the sport and are familiar with how Spence normally looks.
For Crawford to get the credit that he craves from the fans, he will need to beat Spence in the rematch at 154 or higher. Whatever weight that is in the contract, Crawford will have to beat Errol again, and we’ll see if the fans want to praise him fully.
People could be in for a big shock when Crawford is brought down to earth by a non-drained Spence in the rematch at junior middleweight.
Spence looked like a skeleton
“He looked like a different fighter walking into the ring. His eyes looked bad to me,” said Abel Sanchez to K.O. Artist Sports about Errol Spence Jr. for his fight against Terence Crawford on July 29th.
Sanchez isn’t the only one who noticed how strange Spence’s eyes looked backstage while he was warming up for the fight with Terence. Boxing fans on social media commented on how Spence looked like he wasn’t there mentally.
“I was at a house with a couple of officers, and the comments they made, ‘He looks like he’s loaded. His eyes look like he’s loaded; he’s not all there,’ and then I saw a picture of him. I’m not saying he was, but he didn’t look complete,” said Sanchez.
“Then I saw a picture of him a couple of days before [the Crawford fight]. He had a hat on. He looked like a skeleton to me. His face looked so thin, so gaunt.
“So, in my opinion, he wasn’t all there. That wasn’t a Spence that I’ve seen in the past, but I’m not taking anything away from Crawford. Crawford looked like a million dollars.
“I think he lost too much weight and never got back the strength,” said Sanchez about Spence. “The Crawford that fought that night, Spence would have needed to be 100% to be able to compete, and maybe not even beat Crawford that night. Crawford looked so good,” said Abel.
Errol was weak
“He [Spence] had no snap on his punches. He looked like he didn’t have anything on his punches,” said Sanchez about Errol. “Crawford looked like a fundamentally sound fighter. His legs were under him, his distance was perfect, his punches were crisp, and the other guy was not.
“I hope that’s talk. That’s ridiculous,” said Sanchez when asked about his thoughts on Crawford maybe going up to 168 to face Canelo Alvarez.
“It’s like Roy Jones moving up to heavyweight and [James] Toney moving up to heavyweight Canelo fought one of the best fighters that doesn’t get the credit for being one of the best technically sound fighters in Bivol and held his own. Yes, he [Canelo] got beat, but he held his own.
“How’s a young man [36-year-old Crawford] going to compete with a guy [like Canelo at 168]? If they make it, I understand why [money]. I won’t watch it, but I understand why,” said Sanchez.
