LAS VEGAS – Terence Crawford implored supporters of both him and Errol Spence Jr. to behave better early in their press conference Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Arena.
Crawford warned that emotions can run entirely too high in these tense situations and initiate a senseless tragedy, when the only two people that should talk about putting hands on one another Saturday night are him and Spence. An agitated Crawford eventually eviscerated one unidentified Spence supporter for “talking too much” toward the end of their final press conference, but the unbeaten WBO 147-pound champion is much more concerned with silencing Spence in their long-awaited welterweight title unification fight.
When Showtime’s Brian Custer, who moderated the press conference, asked Crawford what he expects Spence to learn about him, the Omaha, Nebraska native lumped Spence in with his lengthy list of conquests.
“The same thing that everybody else find out,” Crawford said. “He gonna come in there and say, ‘Damn, I kinda underestimated this guy. On TV he looks one way, but in the ring I saw three of him.’ ”
Crawford saw three belts that he wants when he and Spence faced off following their press conference.
Spence – who owns the IBF, WBA and WBC titles – and Crawford have opportunities to become boxing’s first fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era. Crawford considers Spence the type of elite-level, respected opponent that also will help him solidify what he has been saying all along.
“Like I said before, this is the Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford era,” Crawford said. “You know, when you look at the body of work that I’ve done in each weight class that I’ve been in, you can’t deny that this is my era. I never had a close fight. I never had a fight where people thought I lost. I never had a fight where I didn’t look spectacular in.
“So, you know, given the body of work – and that’s against every person that they put in front of me. So, given the body of work and how long I been doing it for, yeah, this the Terence Crawford era since Floyd Mayweather retired, him and Andre Ward.”
Spence has one split-decision win on his record (28-0, 22 KOs), a victory over Shawn Porter in September 2019 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 2012 U.S. Olympian has owned at least one welterweight title for six years, however, and, like Crawford, has long been considered one of the top five fighters, pound-for-pound, in boxing.
The 35-year-old Crawford has won each of his seven welterweight bouts by knockout or technical knockout since the former undisputed 140-pound champion moved up from that division five years ago. Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) stopped short of predicting that he would knock out Spence, yet he didn’t rule it out, either.
“I always tell everybody, I don’t go in there looking for the knockout,” Crawford said. “I go looking for the win. But if he get outta line, he’s gonna be the next one down.”
Spence scoffed at Crawford’s contention that he could stop the powerful southpaw from DeSoto, Texas.
“I been gettin’ outta line my whole life,” Spence replied, “so sh!t, you gonna have to do what you have to do.”
Crawford then suggested that he would have to take off his belt to punish Spence.
“You gonna have to do what you have to do,” Spence said. “You gonna need more than a belt. I don’t know what you talkin’ about. I ain’t one of your kids. You gonna need more than a belt. I ain’t one of your kids.”
Crawford laughed when Spence suggested he would put Crawford “in the dirt.” The 33-year-old Spence also contended that he is the technically superior boxer whose offense, defense and stamina will catch Crawford off guard when they meet in a Showtime Pay-Per-View main event ($84.99; 8 p.m. EDT; 5 p.m. PDT).
“So, you know, it’s all good,” Crawford said. “You know, he got the fundamentals, he got the, you know, the durability, he got the stamina, he got the size, he’s strong, he’s the ‘Big Bad Wolf.’ You know, so come fight night we gonna find out, you know, [if he is] all that he say he is. He’s gonna have to show me.”
Spence and Crawford continued to promise an action-packed battle that won’t disappoint fans who’ve wanted them to fight for five years, ever since Crawford annihilated Australia’s Jeff Horn on his way to a ninth-round stoppage that earned Crawford his WBO belt.
“I can guarantee fireworks,” Crawford said. “I can guarantee y’all that. You know, I’m a hundred percent, 120 percent ready. I’m ready for whatever he brings to the table. He say he coming steppin’ and he’s gonna break me, as he say. Let’s see what’s gonna happen.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.