Former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver is giving Terence Crawford a slight edge in his July 29th mega-fight against Errol Spence Jr at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Tarver sees Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) as having a similar fighting style that he had, with his counter-punching ability, movement, and his ring IQ. Surprisingly, he views Crawford as a guy with one-punch power, and he thinks that he could give the volume puncher Spence problems.
Crawford was never seen as a one-punch guy but after his one-punch knockout of David Avanesyan last December, that fight may have given fans – and Tarver – the perception that Terence possesses the power to score one-punch knockouts, like Julian Jackson of the past.
Tarver does feel that Spence’s volume punching could be an issue for Crawford, and he thinks with the way he throws five or six shots consecutively, he could drown out Terence’s work. Spence is capable of throwing combinations all night, round after round with only short breaks in between.
If Crawford’s mobility is no longer there due to his advanced age and years of inactivity, he’s going to be forced to stand and trade. The question is, can Crawford land enough countershots to hurt Spence and keep him off?
If not, it’s going to be next to impossible for Crawford to win rounds to impress the judges. Getting outworked is going to make it difficult for Crawford to win a decision.
Spence-Crawford = pick ’em fight
“This is a big fight. I think this is one of the most anticipated fights in recent years; two guys at their extreme tip-top potential, in there in their prime, but again, I’ve always loved Terence Crawford because I see a lot of myself in Terence Crawford, about how he approached the fight, how he approached his career” said Antonio Tarver to Fight Hub TV.
“Terence has always had that identity about himself. I like the way he does his business. It’s going to be a tough fight. I think it’s a pick ’em fight, but I like Terence Crawford.
“When you look at combination punching, he’s a favorite in that. When you look at strict counter-punching, I think he’s a little
bit in the counterplay. You got to give him the edge in that
area.
“You might want to give Errol Spence the power nod. The size nod is going to be Errol Spence, but I look at that fight when I break it
down I can’t wait to do Tarver’s take on it.
“It’s coming, and I’ma really break this fight down, but at the end of the day, I think this fight comes down to who can do more in
the ring. Who have you seen do more in the ring, and I think that’s what it’s going to come down to.
“When I look at Terence Crawford, I’ve seen him win in various ways, a lot of different ways. He’s ambidextrous; he punches with both hands. He can just do a little bit more. I don’t mean that gives him the edge in the fight, but I like Crawford early right now.
“That could possibly change depending on the training camps and everything you know. Right now, I got Crawford. I’m going with Crawford. In that fight, I’ve always picked Crawford. If anything changes, I’ll let you know it you know if I see something different coming out of the Errol Spence camp that leads me to believe that that heat unmoved that needle.
I’ll be the first one to say it, but right now, I got Terence
Crawford by a slight edge. I wouldn’t even say knockout. It might go to the cards. You know both of these guys are capable of knocking each other out. More so Crawford with one punch, and Errol Spence with an accumulation of body attack wearing you down and getting you out of there.”
Errol’s volume-punching
“The last fight Crawford ended with that one shot. He has that type of counter-punching ability that he’ll set a trap. I don’t see none of these guys setting traps,” said Tarver.
I’m not seeing what you would call the thinking process in there. I’m not seeing a thinking process, and that’s a serious part of the game. When you just do the same thing, you repeat it repeatedly no adjustments are being made.
“This fight with Spence and Crawford, I’ve heard a lot of people
say what you just told me. The counter-punching that, hey, that could really be the difference in this fight, but I’ve heard also a lot of people say Spence might be too big. He might be too active, and he might drown out Terence with activity.
“Yes, Terence will be able to land those counterpunches but
it’ll be landing two, and Spence will be landing five-six; take a break; five-six and keep at him,” said Tarver.
