Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford ‘will show how great boxing is’ when they face-off in Vegas
Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford ‘will show how good boxing is’ when they go head-to-head in blockbuster Vegas showdown…as undefeated duo throw verbal punches at press conference
- Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford traded verbal blows on Wednesday
- The two boxers face each other on July 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas
- Spence holds the IBF, WBC and WBA belts and Crawford is the WBO champion
“This is a fight that boxing needs,” announced unified welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr.
“This is the fight the world has been waiting for,” proclaimed the holder of the other belt Terence Crawford.
Wait too long? That was the question in the room on Broadway at the Big Apple launch of their superfight. Well, it’s hard to deny that both are past their absolute peak. But just a little.
Bud Crawford is 35 but still third in Ring magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings, the bible of boxing.
Spence The Truth is 33 and still fourth in that calculation. Behind only Olexsandr Usyk and the Japanese phenomenon Nayoa Inoue. That’s a measure of how richly talented these two are.
Errol Spence Jr. (left) and Terence Crawford (right) will settle their differences next month
They all swear that on July 29 they will once again peak their height in Las Vegas in a quest for all-time greatness.
Spence said, “We come together in the kind of fight where I saw Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran fight against each other.”
Reminiscing about other boxers robbing the ever-faithful boxing public by taking down the toughest challengers, he added, “We’re showing that there can be a reward for risk.”
The immediate prize – with Spence’s WBA, WBC and IBF titles and Crawford’s WBO championship on the line – will be the crowing of the era’s first undisputed four-cushion welterweight king
Crawford raises the bar even further, saying ‘I want to prove that I deserve to be rated one of the best of all time along with the Ali’s and Mayweather’s’
Spence: “This is the biggest fight in boxing today and we will show how great boxing is when the best fight the best.”
Both have won all their professional fights with a heavy majority of knockouts and are aiming for unconditional recognition.
They still have something to prove. Spence has to confirm that he has recovered from a near-fatal high-speed car accident and eye surgery.
Crawford is annoyed by the doubts about the quality of his opponents so far. Both destroyed Kell Brook, but Spence also flattened Amir Khan in his recap of upper class fights.
Spence Jr.’s WBA, WBC, and IBF titles are on the line when the two face each other in July
As they spoke, giant screens in Times Square beamed the conference to crowds of summer tourists. Would the excitement have been even greater if they had done this two or three years ago?
“It doesn’t matter that it took so long to marinate,” Crawford said. “This is the fight of our lives.” Spence said, “We’ll bring out the very best in each other.”
The realization that they were in danger of missing the moment rang through Crawford’s saying; “We, the fighters, made this possible by ignoring everyone else and talking to each other on the phone.”
An old-fashioned solution for which the most difficult game is duly grateful.