Terence Crawford warns Errol Spence that he can KO him

By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford gave IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. a stern warning that he has more than enough punching power to knock him out when they face each other.

WBO 147 lb champion Crawford and Spence met each other last Friday at the Maurice Hooker vs. Alex Saucedo fight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) doubts that Crawford has the power to give him problems, as he’s fought twice ince moving up from 140 and looked less than powerful in his wins over Jose Benavidez Jr. and Jeff Horn. It took Crawford a lot of rounds to get Benavidez and horn out of there. Those are guys that Spence would have a good chance of knocking out in the 1st round with body shots.

Getting the management for Spence and Crawford to agree to put the fight together is the key issue. It doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of interest on Spence’s adviser Al Haymon’s part to make a fight with Crawford, and you can understand why. Crawford isn’t as popular as the fighters signed with Premier Boxing Champions. They have Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, Shawn Porter, Amir Khan and Danny Garcia. When Spence goes through all of those guys, he can then look in the direction of Crawford for a unification fight. It’s going to take a while for Spence to fight all of the PBC guys at 147. We’re probably talking about two to three years before Spence is done fighting all of Haymon’s fighters before he can face Crawford.

Spence will be 31 in three years. Crawford will be 34, and he might not be the same guy. There will be a lot of wear and tear on Crawford by that time. Spence’s ability to continue to make 147 has the be called in question. He’s looking huge right now in between fights, and there’s a good chance that he won’t be able to make 147 in a year or two. Crawford might not have a problem facing Spence at 154, but it would give him an excuse if he loses the fight. Crawford can tell his boxing fans that he’s not a junior middleweight.

Crawford is 31-years-old now, and he can’t afford to wait too much longer before he faces Spence if he wants to meet him while he’s in his prime. Crawford’s game is built on his hand and foot speed. Once he loses his speed, he’s going to be easy prey for Spence. It won’t be a fight.