Outside of a cool ring entrance and competitive first round, nothing went right for Errol Spence Jr. this past Saturday night.
He boastfully pontificated his ability to not just beat Terence Crawford but to embarrass him, walk through him, and eventually, break him. Spence meant every word he said heading into their undisputed welterweight clash. Crawford though, became vexed by Spence’s threats but remained mostly quiet throughout. Once the opening bell rang, however, his fists did all of the talking for him.
Up until that point, there wasn’t a single fighter around that could deal with the perpetual pressure Spence continued to dish out. Crawford, on the other hand, saw it all coming a mile away.
The 35-year-old carefully sauntered around the ring in the first three minutes, barely throwing a punch. But while his offense was meager, Crawford was studying his man’s every move. The way he stepped into his shots, the amount of power he was pumping out, and most importantly, his rhythm. By the time the second frame rolled by, Crawford had him all figured out.
With just a few seconds remaining in the period, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) sent Spence to the deck for the first time in his career. Over the course of nine painful rounds, Spence became best friends with the canvas.
It’s now reflection time for the Dallas native. He’ll slink back to his palatial estate, enjoy a bit of family time, rest, recover, and do his best to come up with a much better game plan for their impending sequel.
Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) will have to get used to an empty trophy case. Still, that’s of no importance to him currently. As he attempts to move on from what he categorized as an “off night,” he won’t do so feeling bad for himself.
“My head up like a nosebleed.”