Crawford: Spence Is a Good Fighter, But He's Not Indestructible

By Keith Idec

Terence Crawford respects Errol Spence Jr.

The former undisputed 140-pound champion is impressed by what the unbeaten Spence has shown thus far throughout his rise in the welterweight division. Crawford also has noticed flaws in Spence that make him confident he can beat the powerful southpaw whenever they get in the ring together.

Now that Crawford has moved up to welterweight, Crawford-Spence is the 147-pound showdown most boxing fans and media want to see. Crawford discussed Spence in an interview with BoxingScene.com following a press conference Thursday for the Vasyl Lomachenko-Guillermo Rigondeaux fight Saturday night in The Theater at Madison Square Garden (ESPN; 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST).

“He’s a good fighter, but he’s not indestructible,” Crawford said of Spence. “You know, every fighter have their own flaws and I’m willing to exploit each fighter’s flaws when we get in the ring. … There’s always cracks in people’s games. You’ve just gotta go out there and hit the hole. That’s all you’ve gotta do.”

The 27-year-old Spence (22-0, 19 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, is scheduled to make his first defense of the IBF welterweight title against Washington, D.C.’s Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs) on January 20 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (Showtime). Spence expressed interest following a press conference last week to officially announce his optional defense against Peterson in a unification fight with Crawford, assuming Crawford can win the WBO 147-pound championship in his first welterweight fight.

Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), of Omaha, Nebraska, is expected to face the winner of a bout between WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) and England’s Gary Corcoran (17-1, 7 KOs) on Wednesday in Brisbane, Australia, sometime early in 2018. The 30-year-old Crawford, who gave up the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 140-pound championships when he moved up, is the mandatory challenger for Horn’s title.

When asked if he’ll be able to carry his power up to 147 pounds for fights against such hard-hitting opponents as Spence, Crawford said, “Of course. You’ll see when I fight.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.