Spence vs Crawford NYC Press Conference Notes
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 15 Jun 2023
In NYC at the Palladium in Time Square, Unified Welterweight champion (WBC, WBA, IBF) Errol "Big Fish" Spence, Jr (28-0, 22KOs) and WBO Welterweight champion Terrence "Bud" Crawford (39-0, 30KOs) were in attendance for the second of two press conferences (the first was in LA yesterday) to promote what will be the biggest welterweight fight since "Sugar" Ray Leonard vs Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns I.
After some initial comments by Promoter Tom Brown and Showtime Executive Stephen Espinoza, members of the fighter's respective camps took the podium. The first to speak from the fight camps was Crawford's trainer Brian "BoMac" Mcintyre. "BoMac" credited Spence's trainer Derrick James for his good work with all his fighters and Errol Spence, Jr. "BoMac" made his prediction for the fight. He said that the first few rounds of Spence vs Crawford would be difficult, but after the first few rounds Spence would eventually be knocked out by Crawford.
When Spence's trainer Derrick James spoke, he acknowledged that Crawford is the most accomplished fighter in boxing but said that his fighter (Spence) would prevail by giving Crawford an "Ass Kicking". James predicted that Spence would be the first ever 4 belt (WBA,WBC, IBF, WBO) welterweight undisputed champion ever in boxing.
Next up, Terrence "Bud" Crawford went to the podium. Crawford said this fight has been "marinating" for years. The fight between him and Spence is about greatness and he has been preparing for the fight all of his life. Crawford was steadfast in his resolve by saying that Errol or trainer Derrick James will NOT stop him from accomplishing his goal of defeating Spence.
Crawford said after this fight when he defeats Spence, he will be ranked along with Floyd Mayweather Jr, Muhammad Ali, and Joe Frazier. In reference to criticism that he (Crawford) has NOT fought anyone, after July 29, 2023 people will also say Errol was a nobody as well after he beats him.
Next, Errol took the podium. Errol talked about fighting a great fighter, Terrence "Bud" Crawford. Spence put on his Promoter hat and encouraged ALL not to miss this fight. Spence stated he "breaks" people in reference to the destruction he causes in he ring.
At that point the Press Conference Moderator, Brian Custer began a "Question and Answer" session regarding why each fighter will prevail. The first question was for Crawford's trainer Bomac. The question was, Why would his fighter (Crawford) prevail over (Spence)? BoMac's response was Crawford has been in this position before in reference to Crawford's accomplishments. BoMac said they had to "scrape", in reference to the long road and struggle to get to this point.
When Derrick James was asked the same question, he responded that his fighter Spence was brought up for this eventuality fight by fight. He fought tough fighters. Management's plan was to develop him fight by fight to bring to a big fight like Terrence Crawford, which he will win.
When Crawford was asked about why he would win against Spence, Crawford said a victory over Spence means everything to him. Crawford stated that the fight against Shawn Porter was just for the Spence camp to "gauge him" (analyze his fight game). Crawford said he knows he can beat Spence and he has envisioned it in his mind on how to beat him.
In reference to why Spence will win when asked, Spence said he will break down Crawford. The mood became heated with the trash talking, but respectful, between both Spence and Crawford.
Crawford said that he would catch the "Big fish" (Errol) as he like to go fishing. Errol said that he is a "Big Fish" and Crawford is not catching him with fishing rod. Spence said Crawford will "need a submarine". Crawford said he will "gut" Spence ("Big Fish"), fillet, and serve him up. Crawford said he is "Jamaican" and will smoke "Bud" (Crawford) like a joint (cannabis) cigarette. Crawford cautioned that trying to smoke him (Bud), Spence may end up seeing stars which was a veiled reference to Crawford knocking out Spence. Crawford predicted that he would knock out Spence if he "gets out of line" which would make Spence his 7th KO in 147lbs division dating back to when he knocked out Jeff Horn to win his WBO welterweight title back in 2018. Spence promised to "get out of line" so he said he expected that Crawford will come to try and knock him out as he (Spence) has been "out of line" all his life.
Spence then went out of his way to ask the fans to support the fight. He highlighted that there is reward for risk in taking chances by fighting opponents such as Crawford. Spence and Crawford posed for a face off picture at the end of the "Question and Answer" session. It's clear there is a mutual respect for each other but the rivalry of who is better is clear from the trainers all the way to fighters. It's also clear that both Spence and Crawford have something to prove. Crawford has been criticized for his level of opposition and Spence for not fighting Crawford earlier. This fight promises to be a great fight on July 29, 2023. True boxing Fans shouldn't miss it.
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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