BY SEAN NAM
July 31, 2023 Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Keith Thurman has a new nickname for Terence Crawford. "Crafty Crawford."
The former welterweight titlist from Clearwater, Florida, praised Crawford after his magisterial performance against Errol Spence Jr. last night in front of a packed crowd at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to become the undisputed champion of the 147-pound division.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) started fast and never let up, scoring three knockdowns on Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) en route to a ninth-round stoppage, to unify the WBO, WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight titles.
Billed as a coin-flip fight on paper, Crawford showed he was a level—perhaps even several—above Spence when they actually started to trade punches.
Thurman, who had a ringside view of Saturday’s fight, believed Crawford’s quickness was too much for Spence to overcome.
“The best man did his thing, man,” Thurman told Little Giant Boxing. “Crawford, I knew he was crafty. I told everyone he was crafty. He got a new nickname, Crafty Crawford. He showed all that craftsmanship here tonight.
“The speed was too much. At 140 moving up, it happened to me and Pacquiao (in 2019), those little guys when they move up, [makes quick combination sounds] they bring all that speed, and Spence was just a little slow. I thought he as a little slow against Danny [Garcia in 2020] , that’s why he didn’t stop Danny. He stopped [Yordenis] Ugas (in 2022), but I thought he was a little slow.”
Thurman noted that Crawford had done what nobody else had accomplished in the ring against Spence, and that was to break up Spence’s usually unstoppable combinations. “That thing that he (Spence) does, that’s never been broken [is] ‘jab, jab, jab, body shot.’ ‘Jab, jab, body shot.’ It’s never been broken, ’til now. ’Til today, ’til tonight. Now the new undisputed champion of the world Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, salute three times to you bro.”
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