Terence Crawford goes up against Errol Spence Jr at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 29. The contest features undefeated world champions battling it out to crown the first undisputed king at 147 lbs. The fight airs live on pay-per-view.
Ahead of the event, Terence “Bud” Crawford appeared on “The Last Stand” with Brian Custer.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) of Omaha, Nebraska is a long reigning WBO welterweight champion. Prior to moving up a weight class, in August 2017, “Bud” claimed the undisputed crown at super lightweight, when he KO’d Julius Indongo in the third round, collected all four belts and became the first undisputed champion at 140 lbs since Kostya Tszyu in 2004.
Long Island, New York’s 33-year-old Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) is a unified welterweight champion, who holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts.
“It means a lot,” said Crawford about an opportunity to become a two-division undisputed champion. “A lot of people, they shed darkness on me accomplishing it the first time, and saying I wasn’t fighting nobody and they trying to take a lot of credit away from the opponents that I faced at 140 lbs, when those was a good opponents at the time that they was fighting me. So, it would mean a lot for me to go out there and become a two-time undisputed champion. And what’s better than beating the boogeyman?”
“I felt like Roy Jone Jr when they said he wasn’t fighting nobody and he said I just make him look like nobody. Because every time I fight somebody they got some negative say after the fact. But prior to me fighting, it’s a whole lot of ‘oh man I don’t know if Crawford ready’ or ‘this guy is too big, thig guy fought this guy, he’s got the better resume’. You hear a lot of things, but after the fight you hear ‘oh he wasn’t nothing and he was washed. We don’t give Crawford credit for this guy’. But, this is the fight that you guys wanted.”
In November 2021 Crawford stopped former two-time welterweight world champion Shawn Porter in the tenth round.
“Everybody wanted to see me fight Shawn Porter, because the fight that he had with Errol Spence. I didn’t go calling Shawn Porter out because of the type of relationship that we have. I was calling out people like Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Errol Spence.”
“So, when I fought Shawn Porter, everybody was saying ‘oh, Bud is too little, Shawn’s gonna rough him up. Or, ‘Bud is not on that level, he ain’t fought nobody’. But then after I fight Shawn, now ‘Shawn is washed. he is dead, called the fight, he was already retired’. I hear a lot of things.”
“So, July 29 I’m gonna hear a lot of things as well. So, I got used to hearing a lot of things.”
‘The best fighter of this ear’
“With the right punch, at the right time, anything can happen,” Crawford said when asked if he was looking to knock Errol Spence Jr out. “I never go in the ring looking to stop any of my opponents. I look at every opponent the same. Just go get the victory, get the job done, look good doing it, and the rest is extra credit.”
“After July 29th, they’re going to say ‘Terence Crawford is special. He is the best fighter of this ear’.”
Crawford also spoke about Shakur Stevenson, being the next big name in boxing, saying he would want to see him fighting Devin Haney or Gervonta Davis. In addition, he weighed-in the options of fighting Jaron “Boots” Ennis, Jermell Charlo, and more.
In Australia, Spence vs Crawford airs live on Sunday, July 30. Broadcast is expected on Kayo.
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