On July 29, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the long-awaited Errol Spence vs. Terence Crawford clash happens. Not only will all four welterweight world titles be on the line, but status as the best 147-pounder of the post-Floyd Mayweather era will also be up for grabs. Some will even argue that the winner of this unification bout should be regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
The stakes are high and, with so much on the line, both fighters have been big and bold in their talk leading up to the blockbuster. Spence and Crawford recently talked to media during their two-day press tour to hype the fight and neither was shy about putting themselves over while burying the other.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Spence told reporters after Tuesday’s press conference in Los Angeles. “If it would’ve happened earlier, four or five years ago, when people say this so-called should’ve happened, this wouldn’t have been a legacy fight…I just feel like now it’s more of a legacy fight, more impactful, and I feel this is a great fight, really shows who’s the best fighter– not in the welterweight division, but the best fighter in the world.”
As for what this fight means to him, Spence sees this Crawford clash as the major fight of his career and a historical meeting in the tradition of great boxing matches.
“This fight means a lot. This is what you train for. This is what, as a little kid, the fights you used to watch and you’re seeing all these guys becoming great fighters and now I’m on the verge of becoming a great fighter and maybe future Hall of Famer. It’s a great moment, I feel like, in my career and watching them guys as a kid and watching De La Hoya vs Trinidad, and watching these great fighters from back then, and now I’m in there shoes.
“And who says 20-30 years from now it’s gonna be a kid on YouTube watching me and Terence Crawford fight and saying ‘man, I want to fight like that’…that’s what you box for, especially coming up. I just want to be mentioned just like how I talk about Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, 40 years ago. I want somebody 40 years from now talking about ‘I want to have a fight like Errol Spence and Terence Crawford for all the marbles, the best fighting the best.’”
And how does he feel about his opponent, Crawford?
“I feel like he’s a perfect dance partner. I feel like everybody needs that dance partner and he’s a guy that’s really gonna show the world why I know that I’m the best fighter in the world. So I think he’s a guy who has nothing but grit, has a great mentality, goes out there to kill his opponent and get his opponent out of there.”
Spence and Crawford share a couple of common opponents, but Spence rates his performance against them above Crawford’s
“There are a lot of comparisons of how he did with Shawn Porter, how he did with Kell Brook, and all these different guys.
“Kell Brook was already basically broken, and just basically looking for a payday. When I fought those guys, they all had titles when I fought them. Shawn Porter was a world champion. Kell Brook was a world champion.
“So I fought them at their best. It’s a lot harder to stop a guy with a world title and a guy who has everything to lose.
Spence-Crawford will take place live, July 29 on Showtime PPV, atop a Premier Boxing Champions event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
