Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford L.A. & NYC Press Tour: The Epilogue

Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford wrapped up their two-city press tour which stopped at L.A. & NYC.

Although there was an official press release announcing the undisputed welterweight title fight between unified champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0) and WBO Champ Terence Crawford (39-0), fans still didn’t want to believe it until they were on the same stage. That time finally arrived, and the two pound-for-pound fighters kicked off their two-city press tour on Tuesday in Los Angeles, CA, and Wednesday in New York City. 

Although everyone was over the news of “almost signed” or “verbally agreed to” when these two fighters arrived at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Tuesday, the buzz and interest in this super fight were through the roof on social media. Both men seemed a little nervous while trying to find the best way to express themselves but often didn’t clearly communicate it. They should’ve been nervous as this is the biggest fight in both of their careers and the biggest fight in boxing. They are fighting to claim the prestigious undisputed title in a division that has never had one in the four-belt era. During the stare-down, they exchanged pleasantries, and although they did it smiling, I’m sure they were sizing each other up verbally. The presser was closed off to the public, and both trainers were mostly respectful of each other even though Crawford’s trainer Brian ‘BoMac’ McIntyre insinuated that they were being treated like the “B” side.

When Spence Jr. got on the podium, there were some funny punchlines as he said, “Everybody tune in and come out to the fight because we’re gonna have a Craw-fish boil. And there’s gonna be enough for everybody. I promise you that.” Spence Jr. got serious and said, “This is gonna be a one-sided ass whooping. It’s gonna take a few rounds because he’s a tough dude. But everyone gets broke, and we’re gonna break him down. I can guarantee you this is gonna be an action-packed, old-school type of fight. If you’ve been craving those old fights, you have to tune into this one. This is a legendary fight. Belts aside, you talk about just these two fighters, this is the biggest fight in boxing. Especially because of the action we bring. We’re both going for the victory.”

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Terence Crawford will take place July 29 live on Showtime PPV

When Crawford’s approached the podium, he said, “He calls himself the big fish. What happens when you take the fish out the water? You suffocate him.” Crawford later said, “I can guarantee that everyone is gonna witness something special. Errol doesn’t like to back up. I’m the type of fighter where you push me, and I push even harder. We both have big hearts and like to fight. It makes for a great action-packed fight. July 29 is gonna be a great night for boxing.” The fighters and trainers then broke off and did individual interviews with the media.

The press tour then flew to NYC as the live stream from the NY presser would be displayed on the Paramount+ billboard in Times Square for the public to see. I don’t know if it was the long plane ride or if both fighters were more comfortable, but the second day had a higher level of spice to it. Both fighters were doing more sniping, and the competitiveness to one-up each other on what was said was clear as day. Spence said, “Well, you know, I like to go fishing, everybody’ while Spence Jr. would come back and say, “He’s not catching me with no fishing pole! I’m the biggest; you can’t catch me with no fishing pole. That’s like catching Moby Dick with a f*cking fishing pole”. There were plenty of fish and bud references as they got into the presser.

They ended the press conference with a stare-down, but this one was a little closer and more intense. Crawford crossed the line of respect by touching one of Spence’s belts. Although Spence Jr. did not react to it, he kept his composure and did not want to get into the pushing and shoving that some press conferences often have.

After the press conference, there was a moment where Spence Jr. picked up the mic and addressed a topic that none of the active star fighters were willing to touch publicly. Spence said, “Turn my mic back on. We gotta know where, I mean, we giving 3% to these organizations. We gotta know where this money is going to. A lot of times, you got Canelo (Alvarez), (Anthony) Joshua, and all of these guys making 50 million dollars, and these belts getting 3% of that. Where is it going to? How is it helping the fighters out? What are they doing with it?” Interesting comments and the video was quote tweeted by Boxing Hall of Famer Andre Ward as he said, “Change is coming (Fingers crossed emoji).” 

That is a story in itself, and interesting that Spence chose to address it during the press conference for the biggest fight of his career. Maybe he is seeing that the 3% off of a reported eight-figure payday he will be receiving for this fight is a lot of money, and fighters who no longer are active aren’t getting any of it. That’s a whole different story for another day, but it was the most significant soundbite of the press conference.

More importantly, the most highly anticiapted fight in recent years is about six weeks away, and with the press tour now over, both men will lock in and prepare for the biggest fight of their careers on July 29 live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

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