What more can be said about the skills of Terence Crawford? His speed has often been described as blinding, his power – concussive, and his defensive capabilities are considered underrated. Still, while those traits are important, his tendency for boxing out of both stances is very much unique.
At a young age, fighters are normally taught from a particular stance. For right-handers, it’s orthodox, for lefties, it’s southpaw. Seldom do fighters have the ability to not only fight out of both stances but be equally as effective. Crawford though, represents that rare breed.
Up until now, no one has been quite able to solve Crawford’s style in the ring. The next foe tasked with figuring him out is current unified welterweight champion, Errol Spence Jr. The issues of Crawford’s previous foes have now fallen squarely onto the lap of the Dallas native. Although most have had sleepless nights as they broke down countless hours of game tape, Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is taking a different approach to the switch-hitting style of Crawford.
“I don’t really care to be honest,” said Spence to a group of reporters when asked how he’ll deal with Crawford’s switch-hitting.
Spence’s words could be taken out of context. Although he came across as apathetic, Spence is taking Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) seriously. Yet, for the most part, Spence is convinced that the nonstop talk of Crawford’s switch-hitting ability is a bit overblown.
Of course, the now 33-year-old won’t listlessly make his way across the ring with his chin in the air but he won’t shy away from getting into an all-out brawl with Crawford either. Although no one on his star-studded resume quite compares to Crawford, Spence reveals that, not just for this camp, he’s had top-notch sparring with a long list of fighters with varying degrees of skill sets. Those wars behind closed doors only sharpened the tools that Spence already has in his toolbox. Meaning, whether Crawford comes out in the orthodox stance or as a southpaw fighter, as long he’s focused, Spence doesn’t believe that he’ll have much trouble.
“I done sparred southpaws, orthodox, people that switch and things like that so I’m not really concerned with that. I just have to stay focused and realize when he switches back and forth.”