Errol Spence Jr. has always been the big bad bully of the welterweight division. That, in part, is one of the reasons why the boxing public was split on who would come out on top in his undisputed showdown against Terence Crawford. (photo by Ryan Hafey)
The Omaha, Nebraska, native had all the skills in the world but Spence was ostensibly bigger and stronger. Despite the noise, Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, Crawford’s trainer, believed wholeheartedly that his fighter would win. Still, he fully expected Spence to give Crawford a ton of issues.
As the two lined up against one another at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 29th, Crawford essentially breezed past his man. Spence was a number of steps slow, his deleterious punching power was nonexistent, and the advantage some believed he had in the strength department appeared to be erroneous.
Outside of a competitive first round, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) was on cruise control all night, dropping Spence three times before stopping him in the ninth. Heading in, Bomac didn’t believe for a single second that his pound-for-pound star would come up short but even he was surprised how one-sided their clash was.
“I thought it was going to be a little more competitive,” admitted Bomac to 210 Boxing TV.
Although things didn’t play out the exact way he envisioned, Bomac revealed that he should have seen it coming. Since his amateur days, Bomac has been right by Crawford’s side. While their preparation has always been top-tier, there was something different about Crawford this time around. Truth be told, the only reason the future Hall of Famer was able to go out there and barely break a sweat, is strictly due to the arduous work they put in behind the scenes.
“The way Bud prepared himself, the way his team got him together, that’s what made it easy for him.”