Terence Crawford’s Competitive Streak Runs Much Deeper Than Boxing

The undefeated WBO welterweight titleholder’s refusal to lose at a simple yard game is the kind of unrelenting spirit that faces Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday.

LAS VEGAS—Quick story on just how competitive Terence Crawford has always been and always will be. We went to Omaha to see him in early 2019, for a story and a documentary. Fun trip. We spent three days with Crawford and his family, and he was super open to whatever we wanted to film. The settings included: breakfasts and lunches, his home in the suburbs, his boxing gym near downtown, his kids’ wrestling practice, the bridge that connects Nebraska and Iowa, Walmart for dog food shopping, dawn jogs through empty streets, his local barbershop and trick-or-treating with his children in their neighborhood.

Which brings me to The Cornhole Story.

The director/producer for the Sports Illustrated doc was the excellent Sean Dolan. And, as we walked from house to house, the kids collecting candy, Crawford spied a cornhole set in a neighbor’s yard. From what I can recollect, he gestured at it, suggesting that someone step forward to play him. Sean did.

Now, Crawford would say that day that he hadn’t played cornhole, much, if all, before. This struck me as odd, given his Nebraska roots. Sean beat him. Crawford asked for a rematch. Sean beat him again. There we were, almost three days into this packed schedule, Crawford undoubtedly wanting to get rid of us and get back to his life. And yet, even as his kids whined and eventually went home with their mother, he … wouldn’t … leave. Not until he won, at least. Against a journalist. For fun, ostensibly. No audience. No stakes. It was unacceptable to Crawford to consider not winning.

Crawford’s competitiveness has him at 39–0 in his career headed into Saturday’s fight :: John Locher/AP

I cannot recall if he ever did that afternoon. But I saw recently that he has a cornhole set at the gym, and when I spoke to him a few weeks back, I asked if it started on that Halloween. It did! Did he want a rematch against Sean? Did he remember that story? Of course he did. “Yeah,” Crawford responded, “and tell him I know how to play now.”

For me, that story is indicative of Crawford and his ethos. It’s also what Errol Spence Jr. must overcome when they clash, finally, on Saturday night.

Freddie Knows

As arguably the best trainer in boxing history, Freddie Roach seems especially qualified to analyze Saturday’s main event. He is here in Vegas with Giovanni Cabrera, who will clash with Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz in the co-main.

Here is Roach’s unvarnished appraisal:

"I have wanted to see this fight for a long time, and I can tell Spence and Crawford have wanted it too, which is another reason I have wanted to see this fight. They want to know, and prove, which one is the best. It will be a close fight. While on paper, it has the look of Leonard-Hearns, I think it could end up being better.

“In my mind, Crawford is the best fighter in the game and has been for several years. In this fight, I give the edge to Crawford because he is the more complete fighter. I am so impressed by his strategy and well-balanced style of fighting. I can tell he thinks out the game plan thoroughly, well in advance, by the way he warms up in the dressing room. He is not just warming up; he is working on his game plan. Every punch in that dressing room is a piece of his strategy. Inside the ring, he executes his game plan flawlessly. By the end of Round 2, Crawford has figured out his opponent. I can see it. After that, Crawford is close to invincible. I have never seen any fighter switch from orthodox to southpaw so seamlessly. And that is just one part of his arsenal.

Bishop: Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford Talk Tough After a Cordial Conversation Brought Them Together

“I am also impressed with Spence. He has a perfect record against a stronger roster of opposition than Crawford. Experience is a great teacher. I studied a lot of tape on him when Manny [Pacquiao] was training to fight him. Spence is strong and aggressive, and in my opinion a better puncher than Crawford. Manny and I knew he was going to be a tough fight.”

Roach’s prediction: “I believe Crawford is the better boxer and that’s why I give him the edge. But this should be a great fight, one boxing needs and fans deserve.”

Amen.

Styles make ...

It’s one of boxing’s oldest and most cliched maxims: styles make fights. But that’s also more than an empty phrase. It’s true, time-tested and especially applicable in the case of Crawford-Spence. In all cases, the “styles” in “make fights” apply to far more than records and opposition. For Spence and Crawford, those are compelling elements as well—both are undefeated, both are ranked in almost all top five pound-for-pound lists, both have won no shortage of accolades. But that’s not what makes their bout so enticing.

I’d argue that, on paper, how each fights makes their specific matchup ideal, at least potentially. Both are versatile. Both are well-rounded. Both have won with heavy hands, elite footwork and brilliant strategy. But they are also fundamentally quite different.

Spence is what they call a pressure fighter, and he’s a southpaw, which means his pressure comes from mostly different angles than boxers like Crawford, who started as an orthodox fighter and now fights from both sides, switching constantly, are used to. I love how heavy Spence’s jab is. I cannot recall ever seeing him tire in later rounds. I have seen him consistently find his range and uptick the power behind his blows. Since he is taller, heavier (in terms of walk-around weight) and longer than Crawford, every element above lines up in his favor.

BUT! Crawford counters this style in drastic and significant ways, especially related to the matchup. He is an unusual fighter, in all the best ways, more jazz than symphony. He hits from both sides. He’s fast as hell, even more athletic, and his darting in and out of danger reminds me a little of Pacquiao. I’d argue that Crawford is more talented than Spence (barely), more creative than Spence and more versatile than Spence. But he can’t do anything about his height or his reach.

So here’s the best, for what it’s worth: My heart says Crawford, on talent alone, along with his proven track record of beating bigger, taller, longer foes. But my head, in a logical sense, says Spence. He’s just too big and too long and he has demonstrated the ability to keep elite foes at bay, while calibrating distance before the “avalanche” hits. Shawn Porter, who lost to both combatants, used that snowfall phrase earlier this week. It’s the perfect description, and why I lean Spence, by controversial decision.

The real prize for fans and viewers, though, is the potential of how all those elements project. I asked Stephen Espinoza, the czar of Showtime Sports—and, full disclaimer, I do some side writing for the network—for a bout this century that was so salivating in nature, just from a pure, in-ring perspective. He thought for a minute, then suggested the first bout in a trilogy between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. The latter triumphed in that 2000 matchup, by split decision, and it’s often described now as epic, classic, vintage, one of the best pure fights from that decade.

The hope here is that Spence and Crawford bring that out of each other. “I don’t think there’s anyone I fought who’s similar,” Spence said. “His style is different from anybody else. I don’t think Sugar Ray Leonard fought anyone like Tommy Hearns until he fought Tommy, and vice versa. That’s what happens in these historic fights.”

Both downplayed the size this week, but don’t believe them. The disparity is real and significant, either way. Timing, strategy and guts will be most critical.

Odds update

A few weeks back, oddsmakers had this bout more or less even. But in recent weeks, lines moved, ever-so-slightly, in Crawford’s direction. This made Spence an underdog for the first time in his entire career, which makes sense, because his last loss was at the Olympics in 2012. According to the latest odds from MGM’s sportsbook, Crawford was -150 to win on Thursday and Spence was +238 to do the same. That’s still razor thin, of course.

Hyperbole of the Day

 “I think the Raiders have a chance this year,” said a drunk patron at the sports book on Thursday morning. Which … l-o-l, I guess.

Heatwave Note of the Day 

One source, who does not live in Sin City, nor in a city that’s defined by this kind of 110-degree-plus heat, actually had the temerity to say, “It’s not that hot.” May they be confined to an unshaded block for the duration of their stay.

And, in more relevant news, one thing that seems obvious is that all the fighters for Saturday have hardly left the hotel. They’re doing final workouts there. They’re staying in air-conditioned rooms. They’re using the enclosed walkways as much as possible. Perhaps it won’t matter at all. But they seem to share the same concerns after everybody else—and seem to be taking the same measures to prevent them.

Overhead in Vegas on a blockbuster fight week

Most here who would know believe Spence and Crawford will almost for sure fight again—and soon. The rematch clause that’s included in the contract would allow for a quicker turnaround than usual. From what I’m hearing, the only thing that would screw it up is a lopsided win or something funky. Here’s to hoping boxing fans get their first major trilogy since Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin did their dance.