Errol Spence Jr. envisions a much-discussed battle between him and Terence Crawford becoming his legacy-defining fight.
Spence mentioned Leonard-Hagler, Leonard-Hearns and Hagler-Hearns as potential comparisons during an Instagram Live interview with Premier Boxing Champions’ Ray Flores. The unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion expects to stop Crawford, too, if their welterweight title unification fight happens.
“I feel like that’s just a legendary fight, a fight that, you know, people talk about, you know, for a long time,” said Spence, who has recovered from injuries suffered in a one-car accident October 10 in Dallas. “You know, I just feel like a lot of young boxers and things like that will definitely, you know, watch that fight and remember that fight because I feel like we both have the skill set, we both have the talent, you know, we both have the will. But at the same time, at the end of the day I feel like I’ll wash Terence Crawford. I feel like I’ll beat him. I’ll punish him.”
The 30-year-old Spence (26-0, 21 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, thinks he can knock out Crawford (37-0, 26 KOs) because he believes Egidijus Kavaliauskas knocked down Crawford in the third round of the WBO welterweight champion’s most recent bout. Spence pointed to Yuriorkis Gamboa buzzing Crawford in the ninth round of their June 2014 fight as more evidence he’ll defeat Crawford inside the distance.
“If that guy, if the Russian dude, whoever he fought, could knock him down or drop him, you know, I definitely have a great chance of stopping him,” Spence explained. “And I think that he’s been hurt by Gamboa, too, so I definitely have a great chance of stopping him. But I respect his skill set. He got good skills, but I think I’ll definitely stop him.”
Kavaliauskas’ right hand drilled Crawford with 1:35 to go in the third round of their December 14 fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. That flush punch by the hard-hitting Lithuanian challenger made Crawford lean forward and grab Kavaliauskas around the waist.
Crawford went down two seconds later, but referee Ricky Gonzalez ruled that Crawford didn’t hit the canvas as the result of Kavaliauskas’ punch.
Kavaliauskas and Crawford wrestled for position as Crawford tried to hold him. Kavaliauskas attempted to throw punches to free himself from Crawford, whose left knee touched the canvas due to that entanglement.
The 32-year-old Crawford hasn’t officially been knocked down during his 12-year, 37-fight professional career.
Crawford went on to knock Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) to the canvas once in the seventh round and twice early in the ninth round. Gonzalez stopped their scheduled 12-round, 147-pound championship match 44 seconds into the ninth round.
Gamboa, meanwhile, made Crawford stumble when he landed a right hand 42 seconds into the ninth round of their fight for Crawford’s WBO lightweight title nearly six years ago in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford’s hometown.
Crawford came back, just as he did versus Kavaliauskas, to batter Gamboa. The three-division champion floored the then-unbeaten Cuban twice in that same ninth round and their scheduled 12-rounder was stopped with seven seconds to go in the ninth round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.