His build might be a bit smaller than most welterweights, but Terence Crawford has never had an issue with facing larger men.
Since officially moving up in weight in 2018, Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) has sent all of his foes to the showers much earlier than they anticipated. But, regardless of the 35-year-old proving that he has deadly power, Errol Spence Jr. isn’t convinced that he’s in grave danger when the two face off on July 29th.
Spence, 33, is currently preparing himself for an all-out war, something he’s grown accustomed to doing. When last seen, the IBF, WBA, and WBC 147-pound titlist battled through a few tricky moments against Yordenis Ugas. But while they fought on mostly even terms through the first six rounds in April of 2022, Spence dominated the latter half of the fight, resulting in a 10th-round stoppage victory.
Crawford though, isn’t sweating Spence’s ability to take a good clean shot. Although Spence has yet to taste the canvas at any point in his career, Crawford has shown a propensity for stopping normally durable fighters.
Heading into their undisputed clash, Crawford isn’t entirely sure how he’ll approach Spence. While it might be sagacious for him to remain on the outside and keep the much bigger Spence at a controllable distance, Crawford isn’t exactly known for playing it safe. When pressed and forced to fight, the pound-for-pound star has welcomed those sort of shootouts with opened arms.
In the case of Spence though, Crawford acknowledges that taking him out before the sound of the final bell will be a bit tricky. If, however, Spence pushes forward, places his foot on the gas, and attempts to impose his will, Crawford believes that he’ll add to his current 10-fight knockout streak.
“If he gets out of line,” said Crawford during a recent presser. “If he gets out of line, I swear to God he’s gonna be the number 11.”
By Hans Themistode