The reason for former IBF, WBC & WBO welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr’s terrible performance against Terence Crawford may have been discovered by Victor Conte of SNAC, who believes he was weakened by running in the mountains the week of their fight last July in Nevada.
Is the arduous mountain run by Spence the missing link for why he looked drained beyond belief against Crawford?
The High-Altitude run
Conte says Spence Jr. made a massive mistake while training for his undisputed welterweight championship fight against WBO champion Crawford last July by running the week of the fight at 8,000 feet on Mount Charleston, Nevada, which he believes could have caused a condition called ‘altitude sickness.’
It was a mistake on Spence’s part to choose to run in the mountains the week of his fight with Crawford, as it can take days to recover from a grueling five-mile run at high altitude the week of an athletic event.
Altitude Sickness: A Plausible Culprit?
Apparently, Victor Conte doesn’t know for certain that the 33-year-old Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) had altitude sickness condition, but he DID look very flat, looking weak, slow, and an easy target for Crawford’s punches on the night of their fight on July 29th, 2023 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Errol looked dazed & drained
The way Spence looked at the start of the fight, having a dazed appearance, it made some believe that he wasn’t all there, possibly from his two car crashes or weight drain. However, Conte reveals that Spence could have had altitude sickness, which could be what caused him to look so lethargic the entire fight.
Things looked immediately off with Spence, given that he was knocked down in round two by Crawford, and later, Errol was dropped twice in the seventh.
A Puzzle with Missing Pieces
“I’m going to say one more thing that I probably shouldn’t say because I don’t want to take anything away from Terence Crawford, but I know something that Errol did before that fight that was extremely stupid,” said SNAC’s Victor Conte to Showbizz, talking about Errol Spence Jr. running at high altitude the week of his fight against Terence Crawford last July.
“That is, he got to Las Vegas, and seven days out from the fight he decided he was going to go run five miles at Mount Charleston at an elevation of 8,000 feet,” Conte continued about Spence.
“You should never ever done that without acclimation. You can develop what is called altitude sickness. It’s going to hamper your performance. It’s not going to be in your best interest to do that,” said Conte about Spence.
