Via Chris Williams: Andre Ward says he wants to see how Terence Crawford copes with the pressure and power of IBF, WBA & WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr in their bout on November 19.
Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) has never faced anyone like Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) in his 14-year professional career.
The men Crawford has fought are all inferior to Spence in talent and punching prowess, especially at 147. WBO champion Crawford has yet to face welterweight killers like Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr.
Those are coming to Crawford, but they probably won’t get a chance to fight the Nebraska native before he turns 154 later this year,
“Sure. Not necessarily stylistically, but in terms of scale, totally possible,” Andre Ward told Fighthype when asked if Errol Spence Jr vs. Is Terence Crawford similar to Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Tommy Hearns mega-battle from the 1980s or not.
“I will say this, and both fighters know this. No boxer has ever fought another boxer,” Ward continued about Spence – Crawford.
“EJ has never played against Terence Crawford, and Terence Crawford has never played against Errol Spence. As much experience as they have, they have no experience in fighting one fighting fish like the other.
“You’ve got all the years of building and talking, and things are clearly heating up again because the potential for the fight to be so fresh and new with Spence going to win over Ugas.
“As an analyst and a fan, I want to see how Bud copes with Errol’s steady pressure. People say Errol fights one way, but it works, and that’s why he breaks and beats so many great guys and why he has such a resume.
“I wanted to see how Terence Crawford dealt with Errol Spence’s fitness.
“I wanted to see how Crawford dealt with Errol Spence’s south bend style, and Errol Spence’s body punch because Errol was going downstairs.
“When you get hit in the body, you don’t have to go down, but it’s still effective, and it shows up in the middle of the game, at the end of the game, and it’s going to be a grueling fight, so everything will be fine. count, everything will matter.
“I wanted to see how Crawford dealt with the power of Errol Spence. On the other side of the coin, I want to see how Errol Spence deals with Terence Crawford’s reach.
“Terence Crawford’s arms are extremely long. We boxed and played ball, and sometimes he took something close to my face. I was like, ‘Man, how did you get there?
“His arms are very long to be a muscular weight. I don’t know if it’s 73 or 74, somewhere around that. He has long arms. How will Errol Spence deal with that, reach?
“How will Errol deal with the different styles Terence can bring? Terence can smash, Terence can float around and box on his toes. Terence can resist a stab. Errol might as well, but I’m just talking about Terence.
“How will Errol deal with Terence Crawford’s power? When he was hit on the chin for the first time, what was his reaction? I could talk all day about what either boxer brought to the table.
“We do not know. We can speculate. We do not know. They have to get into the ring, and we have to see it play out. It will be an all-time great weight class fight. I believe, and I don’t know how they will deal with it, but I believe there should be a rematch clause for both fighters.
“I believe we should prepare for two fights for these two fighters. I can’t see a scenario where one is doing and the other has a rematch clause.
“I think both should have one. So we’re probably getting ready for a two-war deal, at least,” Ward said of the fight between Spence and Crawford.
