By: Sean Crose
“That’s a fight that we’ve been wanting for years,” undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford mentioned on Joe Rogan’s podcast. “To finally secure the fight and perform the way I performed, it was a great moment for me and my career.” Few would disagree. Crawford’s sensible showcasing of his abilities in opposition to then fellow undefeated welterweight titlist Errol Spence in final month’s excessive profile superfight stunned even Crawford’s personal supporters. Everyone knew Crawford was good – however did they know precisely how good he was? Perhaps not. Yet Crawford made it clear to Rogan that it was pre-fight preparation that made his in ring efficiency in opposition to Spence so spectacular.
“Everything you seen fight night,” Crawford mentioned, “we drilled it time and time again, time and time again, so it came naturally and easy to me when the fight came.” With the combat being a number of weeks within the rear view mirror Crawford mirrored on the truth that many didn’t anticipate him to win because of Spence’s measurement and essentially spectacular model. “He might be bigger than me,” Crawford mentioned of Spence, “but big don’t mean stronger.” Not that everybody felt that Spence was going to win. “I was favored in Vegas,” Crawford mentioned, “so Vegas must have had it right.”
Crawford went on to divulge to Rogan that there had really been a time when he felt the lengthy anticipated bout with Spence may not ever come to fruition. “There was a point in time where I shifted gears,” he informed Rogan, “and I shifted my thoughts off of Errol Spence as a result of I didn’t really feel just like the combat was going to occur. But as soon as I left Top Rank and we began negotiations,I used to be like ‘maybe this fight will happen.’” Ultimately, Crawford reached out to Spence himself. “I just hit up Spence, like listen man, if me and you fight, me and your are going to get this done, because there’s lots of people blocking the combat,” Crawford mentioned. “They (those blocking the fight) wanted to do the deal a certain way and I wanted to do the fight the fair way.”
Crawford went on to clarify to Rogan that he didn’t intensely research Spence’s earlier ring outings earlier than getting within the ring with the person. “I have a different style,” Crawford admitted. “They’re not going to fight me the same style and the same way they fought their previous opponents. They’re just not.” Besides, as Crawford made clear, he likes to function within the second. “I don’t watch too much film because I’m going to make my adjustments on the fly inside the ring,” he mentioned. “My coaches, they do the studying, then come up with a plan, then they shoot me the plan to win and we just go from there.”
Perhaps the clearest perception into Crawford’s technique might be present in his feedback to Rogan about how his thoughts operated within the moments earlier than the opening bell. “I think I made the change to fight southpaw in the back dressing room,” mentioned the ambidextrous fighter. “I was remembering, ‘he (Spence) never fought too many southpaws before, and then on one of the occasions he go hurt real bad by a hook,’ so I was like ‘I’m coming out southpaw and we’re going to box just to start off, but at the same time I’m going to get my respect right out the gate.’”
Prepping is clearly essential in any endeavor – but Crawford resides proof that working within the spur of the second can have its benefits, as nicely.
