Keys To Victory For Errol Spence and Terence Crawford

On Saturday, July 29, 2023, the world is expecting to see a legendary showdown between two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Errol Spence Jr. (28-0-0, 22 KO) and Terence Crawford (39-0-0, 30 KO) will meet in the ring at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Everything is on the line between these two men as this fight will dictate who will keep their unblemished record and become the undisputed champion in the welterweight division.

Errol Spence has said, “I feel like I can’t leave 147 pounds without fighting him, and he can’t leave without 147 pounds without fighting me… I feel like he is my dancing partner and I am his dancing partner… We’re meant for each other” on The Pivot podcast.

An overwhelming majority of the boxing world seems to agree that this will be the biggest event the sport has seen since Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fought back in 2015.

Anything can happen in the sport of boxing at any given moment. Based on the high-level skills, talent, and ring IQs of both Errol Spence and Terence Crawford, most of the boxing community sees this fight as a true 50/50 split matchup that could go either way.

Let’s take a deeper look into the trajectory of each fighter’s career and how they were both meant to cross paths at this very moment.

Errol Spence Jr. Career-Defining Moments

Kell Brook: W (KO)
The year 2017 was the beginning of the “strap season” for Errol Spence.

He won his first world championship at 147 pounds, the IBF world title, against Kell Brook in the United Kingdom. At the time of the fight, Errol Spence was 27 years old and hungry to win his first professional title after falling short of capturing his previous goal of being crowned an Olympic gold medalist.

Spence applied constant pressure and dominated Kell Brook for most of the fight. Errol found success by keeping Kell Brook fighting off of the ropes and delivering combinations of vicious body punches. The pressure overwhelmed Brook in the 10th round and sent him to the canvas. Brook would also go down in the 11th round due to the pain from a broken orbital bone from Spence’s relentless pressure.

The fight ended with an 11th-round KO and Errol Spence would begin his official campaign as the “Big Fish” in the welterweight division.

Shawn Porter: W (SD)

On September 28, 2019, Errol Spence would face his toughest opponent to date in a rough and awkward Shawn “Showtime” Porter. This fight was for the IBF World Welterweight and WBC World Welterweight championship titles.

It was a true test for Errol Spence. Many people actually had Porter winning the majority of the early rounds of the fight.
The defining moment in this fight came when Spence was able to land a left hook in the 11th round that sent Porter to the ground.

The fight would go the full twelve-round distance and Errol Spence was granted the split decision victory over Shawn Porter. At this point in his career, Errol Spence would hold two of the four major belts in the welterweight division.

Yordenis Ugas: W (TKO)
On April 16 2022, Errol Spence fought Yordenis Ugas for the IBF, WBA, and WBC straps in Arlington, Texas at the AT&T Arena. Ugas and Spence fought a hard fight with the majority of the action happening in the center of the ring. The fight was a night of ebbs and flows as the momentum shifted in favor of each man. Errol Spence eventually took control of the fight and broke Yordenis Ugas down with a barrage of combinations.

The final result would be Yordenis Ugas suffering a broken orbital bone in round ten, and the bout being stopped by TKO. Click here to remind yourself what happened in Spence vs Ugas.

After defeating Yordenis Ugas, Errol Spence clarified that he only wanted to fight Terence Crawford in his next fight. By defeating Terence Crawford, Spence would complete his long-time goal of becoming the Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the world.

Terence Crawford’s Career-Defining Moments

Jose Benavidez Jr.: W (TKO)
Terence Crawford faced Jose Benavidez Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska back in October of 2018. This was a heated fight that was brought to fruition from a past beef between Bud and Benavidez. Both men had even thrown punches at the weigh-in the day before.

Despite Benavidez being the bigger man, Bud put a beating on him for most of the fight. By the 12th round, Terence Crawford was able to drop Benavidez. Terence Crawford would win the bout by TKO in the 12th round.

Kell Brook: W (TKO)
The fight between Terence “Bud” Crawford and Kell “Special K” Brook took place in the bubble at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on November 14, 2020. Despite navigating through the difficulties of the pandemic, Terence Crawford looked dominant as usual as he defended the WBO World Welterweight title.

Bud boxed comfortably in both orthodox and southpaw stances. Kell Brook was able to give Crawford some problems early with his well-timed jabs followed by sharp right hands. Crawford would soon make the necessary adjustments to turn the momentum of the fight back in his favor. He let off relentless combinations that hurt Kell Brook and ultimately ended the fight in a TKO victory in round 4.

Shawn Porter: W (TKO)
On November 20 2021, Terence “Bud” Crawford and Shawn “Showtime” Porter fought for the WBO World Welterweight title in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bud did a very good job at using his footwork and ring IQ to constantly switch stances and box around the entire ring. Crawford was able to find a comfortable range to box and let off elusive combinations that hurt Porter.

Terence Crawford eventually put Shawn Porter down twice early in the 10th round and the fight was stopped. TKO victory for Bud.

Errol Spence Keys To Victory
● Start fast
● Stay busy
● Make it a rough fight
● Get in Crawford’s head early
Errol Spence’s success in the ring has come from him being fundamentally sound and having a high work rate. His jab is one of the best in boxing and his body punches wear down his opponents round by round. I believe that Errol Spence needs to start putting pressure on Bud early in the fight.

Leading up to the fight it seems that Spence has done a good job at verbally getting under the skin of Terence Crawford and his team. He has made numerous comments about Crawford not fighting any formidable opponents to this point of his career. Spence has also said that he believes Crawford has a “glass shield” in regard to his punch resistance.

It could possibly play into Errol Spence’s favor if he can successfully bait Bud into having a toe-to-toe fight in the early rounds. This is the style of fight that Spence used to beat Ugas. With Errol being the bigger man and having more weight to throw behind his punches it is highly possible that he could hurt Crawford.

If Errol Spence finds success in pressuring Crawford, there may be an opportunity to trap him on the ropes and do serious damage as he did with Kell Brook.

Terence Crawford Keys To Victory
● Use the entire ring
● Change stances often
● Continue to fight with a broken rhythm (timing)

Terence “Bud” Crawford’s talent and athleticism could present some serious problems for Errol Spence. One of the things that Crawford does really well is change stances a the right moments of the fight. He is very crafty with his footwork and always seems to find a way to win the position battle between himself and his opponents.

Crawford naturally fights with a broken rhythm, constantly moving, changing levels, angles and punch ranges. This could give Errol Spence problems because Spence is a fighter that likes to get into his own rhythm and dictate the fight.

Shawn Porter was successful in constantly breaking Errol Spence’s rythm during the fight and forcing him to readjust before he could load up on big punches. That was the main reason why Porter has been Spence’s toughest opponent to date. Errol Spence has acknowledged that Shawn was a very “awkward” fighter.

Crawford has the ability to move and be more unpredictable in the ring than Shawn Porter. In fact, Bud highlighted his ability to do so while fighting against Shawn Porter, which is why Porter could never successfully apply the same pressure to Crawford as he did to Errol Spence.

Although Terence Crawford is up against what seems to be a much bigger and stronger opponent in Errol Spence, he has a special advantage with his phenomenal instincts and ability to time his opponents. Errol Spence’s style of fighting will likely present Crawford with opportunities to time his shots and connect with some good counterattacks.

If Bud can manage to find his timing in countering Spence’s pressure, it is very possible that he could inflict enough damage to become the next Undisputed Welterweight Champ.

Conclusion
This is a fight where regardless of the outcome, as long as everything is conducted in fair play, the fans could walk away satisfied that their money has been well spent.

Each fighter is bringing elite-level skill sets and competitiveness to give the world the legendary fight that it has long awaited. Tune in on Saturday, July 29th, 2023 on Showtime PPV.