Spence Will Beat Crawford – Paulie Malignaggi Reacts And More

Paulie Malignaggi expects Errol Spence Jr.’s physicality to be too much for Terence Crawford when they meet on July 29th, 2023. 

Spence is the naturally bigger welterweight who is younger, although the older Crawford does hold the reach advantage.

Going into the bout, Crawford is seen as the favorite with the bookies despite being the B-side in the negotiations and only having one belt in comparison to Spence’s three.

However, Spence’s ability to break down fighters is something that could prove too much for Crawford. His victories over Mikey Garcia and Yordenis Ugas were evidence of that. 

While that may be the case, Crawford’s ability to switch stances and his athleticism could become an equalizer.

After all, Bud has stopped all of his opponents at welterweight. And yet, Malignaggi questioned the caliber of the WBO champion’s opposition. 

“I think Errol’s too big, and the natural size is going to be a bit too much for Terence to deal with. Terence isn’t offended by it. He likes that kind of stuff.

“He likes to prove people like me wrong. You go out there, put on a good show, and we’ll see how it plays out,” Malignaggi

Nevertheless, Malignaggi viewed Crawford as the better fighter. But given that styles make fights, the former world champion felt it was a bad style for Crawford to deal with. Spence’s body work has the ability to slow down the best of fighters. 

“It’s one of those interesting things. Head to head, I think Errol wins the fight, but I think Terence is the more complete fighter. 

“But at welterweight, I think Spence will cause a pace and physicality to the fight that the smaller guy will be worn down by.

“Errol is just a little bit too big, and combined with the physicality, it will be a little bit too much for Terence to deal with,” Crawford 

Spence On Crawford

Those were the sentiments coming from Spence too. The ‘Truth’ is known for stopping fighters late, as shown by his wins over Kell Brook and Ugas.

An 11th and 10th round stoppage respectively showed that in two fights the opponents were highly competitive.

However, failure to break Crawford down would result in a chess match between which fighter had the better boxing skills. And yet, Spence is not leaving anything to chance as he vowed to be too much for Crawford.

“It’s gonna be a battle of the will and who can break who down. And I know that I can break him down. I know that he’s not as durable as me and my skill set is gonna overpower anything that he brings to the table,” Spence

Kambosos On Spence-Crawford

Nevertheless, not everyone had that take on the fight. George Kambosos Jr. came out to express how he could see both fighters getting the victory.

This is the overwhelming consensus heading into the fight, with barely anything to split between the fighters.

And given Kambosos has been in high-profile fights himself, the Australian is well aware of the pressure that comes with that.

Following his shock victory over Teofimo Lopez, Kambosos had two chances to become undisputed at lightweight.

However, he fell short on both occasions as he came second best to Devin Haney. Much in the same way, both Crawford and Spence may only have one chance even with a rematch clause as there is no guarantee that both fighters will run things back. 

With that being said, Kambosos could not pick a winner.  

“Hell of a fight. It’s a 50/50 fight. I’m always continually going back and forth with myself thinking, ‘Spence does that well, he get get the edge.

“No, Crawford does that well, he can get the edge on Spence.’ Both guys are tremendous fighters and that’s why it’s such an intriguing fight.

“I really can’t pick one. I really can’t pick who’s gonna win this fight and that’s gonna draw the fans to this kind of fight,” Kambosos 

However, there is a chance that the fight could end in a draw. Canelo Alvarez’s bout with Gennady Golovkin had shown that with the judges not being able to separate the two fighters.

Although that did result in a rematch getting made, neither Spence nor Crawford will want to leave it in the judges’ hands.

Tim Bradley echoed as much when he urged Crawford to try and get a stoppage, believing that he would not get a decision in Vegas.

But with so much at stake, every round will be under more scrutiny than ever. Ultimately, it will come down to which fighter can hold their nerve under the lights.

And given that it is a 50-50 fight, the small margins will decide who comes out victorious. Time will tell.