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Posted on 11/18/2021

Terence “Bud” Crawford has set his sights on defeating Shawn Porter on Saturday night.  There’s no hate but mutual respect for their respective journeys. 

Crawford is relaxed, speaking to BoxingInsider.com on Wednesday ahead of a final press conference with Porter and their respective teams. Instead of responding to the standard resume/camp-related questions, Crawford shares his insights on his team and how proud he is of them. Additionally, he says negotiations for Saturday night’s fight were “fairly easy” and how he respects Porter’s stacked resume. 

BI: Something that I’ve always admired is the strong team surrounding you. What are you most proud of when you look at BoMac (trainer Brian Mcintyre), Red, and Esau?

TC: I’m just happy and proud that they can share this light here with me. It’s been a long, tough road to get to this point. And we all made it. And we all made huge sacrifices. And I’m just happy to be the one to bring them to this point.

BI: A lot of sacrifices, a lot of long nights go into coordinating fights negotiations? Was this an easy negotiation? 

TC: Negotiations were fairly easy far as I can remember. As far as Top Rank and PBC, I don’t know. But as far as my side, it was nothing.

BI: The narrative of the fight has been Shawn smothering aggressive style versus Bud’s, pure technical ability boxing abilities. Those are the discussions that people are having. What do you think people observe about your boxing style are equally as strong as your technical ability?

TC: I think by now, and everybody knows that I’m strong, I can punch, I can box, I can bang, I can brawl. So, I think it’s out there now. And I think that’s something that a lot of people know now.

BI: I’ve admired the mutual respect you both have for each other. When I talked to Shawn before, he admired how you completely dominated your opponents in previous fights. There’s never been a victory of yours where it was close. What is something about Sean’s victories that you’ve admired?

TC: Well, you know, me and Shawn are two guys that are students of the game. I admire the fights he has won, you know, in the fashion he has won in it. Being that he fought his fight. No, he got his opponents off their name, and he did what he had to do to rattle them and get in their head to force a clean-cut victory in most cases. For others, it was close. 

Sometimes you get the nod, and sometimes you don’t. But, you know, those are the things that I admire from Shawn Porter because he always kept his head high. He never let that get to him or, you know, make him less of a fighter.

BI:  What are some narratives that you hear that you wish would die about you, your career, or anything?

TC: You know me. I don’t care what type of narrative they say about me or how they view me. Because they gon keep talking about you regardless. So, it’s not my job to care or follow behind what the next person is saying about me.

BI: Lastly, I saw a video going around the internet from a party you had in Omaha. Everybody was dancing in the street, and you’re getting down. Does boxing make you a better dancer? Does dancing make you a better boxer?

TC: [laugh] I think both.

Posted on 07/12/2021

Errol Spence Jr. arrives for Sunday’s press conference poised and focused on the day’s press activities. It is the first time the Unified champion and 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao will appear together to promote their August super fight.

Throughout his boxing journey, he’s succeeding where others have found difficult. Flanked by a harmonious team and strong support system, he maintains the same zen-like calm he’s known for. An inner peace that’s fueled by family, farm animals, and a desire to be an all-time great.

Now his full attention turns toward the fight he’s been pursuing since 2019. An opportunity against Manny Pacquiao, a guaranteed first-ballot Hall-of-Famer who will be remembered as an all-time great, no matter the outcome.

Once the press conference was complete, Errol Spence Jr. chatted with BoxingInsider.com beyond the usual camp and strategy questions. The WBC and IBF unified champion explain how he keeps his training harmonious, Pacquiao’s best wins, why farm life works for him and what he’s learned from his cadre of animals.

BI: Earlier, you were speaking about your father and trainers and how you navigate that. How have you been able to navigate those relationships so well during your career?

ESJ: I feel like a lot of fathers try to take the coach position, and the coach pushes back. For me, I make sure they’re separated. My father might tell me some stuff, and I take what I think is good. My coach might tell me some things I think is good, and if I don’t [think it’s good], I don’t do anything with it. It’s just two separate entities telling me two separate things.

BI: Earlier, I asked you about some of Pacquiao’s best wins. What is a great win for you? A lot of fighters when fights, but what’s a great win, in your opinion?

ESJ: I like to see the execution. I would say a great win for me is Bernard Hopkins versus Tito Trinidad. That was a great win for me.
He basically defeated a country. A lot of people would say that Trinidad was the favorite. Bernard came around and did his thing, perfected his strategy and beat him, and outpointed him.

BI: You look at Barnard, who fought into his 40’s. You’re about to fight a man in his 40’s. Is that a path that you envision for yourself? Do you want that type of trajectory where you are still a killer at 40? Or do you have a cut-off point?

ESJ: If I’m still beating young guys up, yeah, I’ll fight. I think if there comes a time if I get in the ring and somebody is beating me up, that’s not supposed to be beating me up, or I can’t get out of the way of punches, I’m going to retire.

I’m always smart with my finances and stuff like that so I can get out of the sport when I need to. So as long as I keep winning or it’s a close loss to somebody you could lose to, that’s acceptable, but if I’m losing to someone, I have no business losing to, or I get beaten up in sparring, it’s time to hang it up.

BI: This [the fight against Pacquiao] is a big fight. Lots of big fights don’t happen for whatever reason, even when fighters have the same management. Everyone thinks they know the business of boxing whether they work in it or not. What is the key to making a big fight that the outside doesn’t know?

ESJ: You have to know there’s definitely a lot of politics in boxing. A lot of tug of wars going on and things like that.

The easiest fights to get made are the fights in the same circle. That’s why Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Ugas, Pacquiao, everybody’s mixing it up because everybody’s under the same umbrella.

A lot of guys are not going out. You might get some guys like Matchroom that might be with Top Rank on the business side. It shouldn’t be like that, but there’s a lot of politics in boxing stopping big fights from happening.

BI: When fighters reach your level, some feel like they have to change their whole persona. You’ve maintained your same level-headed personality your entire career. Why has that formula worked for you?

ESJ: It is my mentality. I don’t get caught up in the hype at all. I’m the type of person that after a fight, my whole plan is to disappear. After this fight is over, I’m going unseen for two or three months.

House time, I’m with my kids, and I’m chilling, and I’m not trying to be bothered. I don’t care to be on camera, and I don’t even care to have my name mentioned. When the job calls, it’s time to do it. I’m not trying to be at the forefront of everything.

BI: With that chilling, you have children, farm life, and animals. You have horses. They seem to have brought you to a different level of peace and Zen. How do they help you? What can we learn from animals?

ESJ: One thing, it definitely gives me a lot to do. It keeps me busy, and horses give you peace of mind. I didn’t start riding horses until after my accident.

I moved outside the city lines, the outskirts and got a ranch and didn’t know anything about it. But I learned on the job, got cows and stuff like that. Horses are majestic a little bit. And you can learn a lot from them, especially patience. Something that big and that strong, you have to have patience. They can get spooked real fast and kick or anything.

BI: What was that first time riding a horse like? You are an athlete. Did you jump on the horse fearlessly?

ESJ: I was fearless, but I was still cautious. I jumped on a good, trained horse, so he didn’t do anything. He had a great temperament and stuff like that. But what yeah, I was kind of fearless because, you know, I’m an adventurous person, but it was different from what I used to because I first I was like, I wouldn’t even touch a horse or cow.

BI: Lastly, fans, in general, have a lot of respect for you. There are many factions on social media and fandom, but fans universally enjoy you, no matter who their affiliations. What do you say to those fans?

ESJ: I appreciate everybody’s support. I appreciate everybody letting me have my peace sometimes. I think a lot of people don’t understand I’m a kind of introverted person. So, I need my space.

And then now and then but, you know, I do like when it’s fight time, you know, I do, do I need to be done and do my interviews and stuff like that, but I enjoy my peace of mind. But I appreciate everybody staying with me and supporting me. It’s a great time, and I’m enjoying myself while I’m young and on top.

Manny Pacquiao vs Errol Spence Jr. takes place Saturday, August 21 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. For the full interview, please visit BoxingInsider’s YouTube Channel.

Posted on 05/07/2016

HBO PPV Round by Round Results
By: William Holmes

Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1) put up his WBC Middleweight Title on the line against British boxer Amir Khan (31-3) at the newly constructed T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The winner of this bout may face Gennady Golovkin next, and Golovkin was interviewed before the fight and indicated he was ready to face the winner, at 160 pounds.

Two stoppage victories on the undercard gave HBO some time to kill before the start of the main event.

Joel Martinez was the ring announcer for the night, and Danny Walten sung the national anthem of Great Britain first. The Mexican national anthem was performed by Roberto Tapia. The national anthem of the United States was sung last by Jencarlos Canela.

Amir Khan was the first man to enter the ring and Canelo Alvarez entered the ring second. Even though British fight fans have a reputation for traveling, most of the fans in attendance were clearly for Canelo. The attendance for tonight was 16,540.

The following is a round by round recap for tonight’s title fight.

Round 1:

Both boxers come out in an orthodox stance. Canelo does not look to be that much bigger than Khan. Khan throws out two jabs. Khan with a jab to the body followed by a straight right hand. Khan is showing a lot of circular movement. Canelo flicks out a jab. Canelo with a right to the body. Khan fires off a combination and lands some of his shots. Canelo is short with a lead left hook. Canelo with two shots to the body. Canleo is short with a straight right hand. Khan is constantly moving. Canelo lands a left hook on a forward moving Khan. Khan with another jab to the body. Canelo connects with a lead left hook. Khan misses with a four punch combination. Canlo lands two jabs. Khan comes forward with a three punch combination. Canelo misses with a lead left hook, but follows with a wide right hook to the body.

10-9 Khan

Round 2:

Canelo is coming forward with more urgency. Canelo misses with a lead left hook and Khan answers with a quick four punch combination. Canelo misses with a wild left hook and Khan connects with a two punch combination. Canelo misses with a jab and Khan misses with several jabs. Canelo barely misses with a straight right hand. Khan with two quick jabs and Canelo answers with a left hook. Khan throws a four punch combination and Canelo throws a hard straight right. Khan’s movement is slowing down a little bit. Canelo throws a short jab to the body. Canelo throws a right to the body. Khan lands a two punch combination. Canelo lands a jab to the body. Canelo misses with another left hook. Khan lands a two punch combination clean on Canelo.

10-9 Khan; 20-18 Khan

Round 3:

Canelo throws out two quick jabs. Canelo against misses with a lead left hook. Khan with three quick jabs to the head of Canelo. Khan ducks under a lead left hook from Canelo. Canelo lands a left hook to the head of Khan. Khan misses with a three punch combination and Canelo lands a right to the body on a retreating Khan. Khan lands a hard left hook in the middle of the ring and cirlces away. Khan with a quick jab. Canelo misses with a right cross but lands a hard jab afterwards. Canelo lands a right to the body. Khan lands a right hand upstairs. Khan misses with three jabs. Khan misses a two punch combination. Canelo is showing good head movement. Canelo lands a counter straight right hand. Khan lands a straight right hand. Best punch of the round.

10-9 Khan; 30-27 Khan

Round 4:

Khan lands a quick jab and circles away. Canelo tags Khan with a jab to the body. Khan misses a straight right hand. They tie up briefly. Canelo misses with a left jab and misses another jab. Canelo throws out a straight right hand to the body, and Khan answers with a quick jab. Canelo’s right hand gets blocked by Khan. Khan lands a quick two punch counter after a right to the body by Canelo. Canelo lands a left to the body, and Khan connects with a triple jab. Canelo lands a jab and Khan counters with a three punch combination. Canelo lands a sharp jab. Canelo throws out two more quick jabs. Khan barely misses with a hard straight right hand. Khan misses with a two punch combination. Canelo lands a good right to the body and Khan appears to grimace. Canelo lands a right to the body of Khan.

10-9 Canelo; 39-37 Khan

Round 5:

Canelo lands a jab. Canelo lands a hard left hook upstairs. Canelo connects with a good jab. Khan lands a quick two punch combination. Canelo misses with a wild left hook. Khan lands a straight right hand. Khan misses a two punch combination. Canelo’s straight right hand is blocked. Canelo connects with a straight right to the chin of Khan. Khan lands a straight right at the end of a combination. Canelo hits Khan with a left hook. Canelo misses with another wild left hook. Canelo lands a good left jab followed by a straight right to the body. Canelo misses with a right uppercut but later hits a right hook to the body. Canelo lands two good punches to the body. Canelo misses with a wild left hook and uppercut. Canelo is looking more confident, but a close round.

10-9 Canelo; 48-47 Khan

Round 6:

Canelo lands a reaching jab. Khan’s movement has slowed noticeably. Canelo is pressing forward. Khan throws out four consecutive jabs. Canelo with a right to the body and the referee warns Canelo to keep them up. Khan is short with his combination. Canelo lands a hard body shot followed by a hook upstairs. Canelo throws out two jabs in a row but misses. Khan lands a hard straight right hand. Khan lands a jab and Canelo connects with a jab and cross to the body. Canelo lands a jab to the head of Khan, and connects with another one. Khan’s combination hits air. Canelo misses with a left hook. Canelo connects with a jab and then connects with a brutal straight right hand and Khan crashes to the mat.

Khan is out cold and the referee waives off the fight.

Canelo Alvarez wins by KO at 2:37 of the sixth round.

AFterwards Khan stated, ““I didn’t make it to the end, but I tried my best,” said Amir “King” Khan. “I want to be the best, and I want to fight the best. That is why I took this fight.”

A victorious Canelo stated, “He is a fast fighter, and I knew things would be complicated in beginning, but I knew they would come to my favor as the fight went on. People have known me only for my power. I have many more qualities in the ring and I showed that. I think people saw more of me tonight. Someone that comes in to box gives you more trouble and someone that cones right in is a little easier to fight.”

Golovkin at this point had entered the ring, and Canelo acknowledged his presence by stating, “I invited him to come to the ring. Like we say in Mexico “we don’t fuck around.” I dont fear anyone; we don’t come to play in this sport. I fear no one in this sport. Right now I will put on the gloves again and fight him.”