Terence Crawford will start camp Monday in Colorado Springs at the Triple Threat Gym as he prepares for his Dec. 14 matchup against Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs) will be defending his WBO welterweight title against mandatory challenger Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs), who goes by the moniker “Mean Machine.”
Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, head trainer and manager of Crawford, offered a brief scouting report on the 31-year-old Lithuanian boxer and what they will be preparing against over the next two months.
“He’s strong, has sneaky power, he comes forward, and he has a right hand,” McIntyre told BoxingScene.com. “He’s applies different kinds of pressure, so we’ll be bringing in pressure sparring partners. He’s going to try and impose his will on Terence. Kavaliauskas earned his opportunity as the mandatory challenger. We’re not sleeping on him.”
Kavaliauskas will be fighting for the first time since earning a majority draw against Ray Robinson in March. Crawford hasn’t fought since easily dismantling Amir Khan in April.
McIntyre added that he prefers to train in Colorado Springs with his 32-year-old pupil, who lives nearby in Nebraska, because of beneficiary elements of the high altitude, and the fact that they’re away from the riff raff.
McIntyre said that nobody really knows about Triple Threat Gym and they go about their business unbothered; no reporters stop by, and nobody is asking for pictures.
Once they head to New York for their fight at Madison Square Garden, Crawford’s third at the venue and second consecutive in the big arena, the scene will change.
“It’s peaceful in Colorado Springs. You can go about your day without anybody knowing you or seeing you. You can stay on schedule,” said McIntyre. “Nobody really knows about it. It’s perfect out here.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com.