Taken from JRE MMA Show #145 w/Terence Crawford:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/260q7fUJAdR8S88JqG9slG?si=66a65eae04214bfc

It's a wonderful thing that I had to fight to, you know, get everybody approval.

Well, it's tricky in boxing sometimes because sometimes it's difficult to make those matchups happen and a dream matchup like that between 2 undefeated world champions and for you to dominate the way you did because a lot of people had that like a pick'em fight like a lot of people didn't know how to call it but you just fucking ran that fight you ran that fight that was amazing

yeah you know that's a fight that we've been wanting for years, and to finally secure the fight and perform the way that I performed, it was a great moment for me and my career.

I mean, just the way you controlled, the way you switched things up, the way you controlled the pace of the fight, the defense, your defense was on point.

Those hooks that you were landing in close were magnificent.

I mean, I'm sure you appreciate it, I'm sure you watched it a bunch of times, but man, that was like a real, because it was such a mainstream fight, such a huge fight where everybody was paying attention to it and talking about it, even casuals, that they got to see you perform that way.

You know, now it's like there's no dispute.

You're the number 1 pound-for-pound guy on earth.

Yeah That's something that I got a credit to my coaches, you know, because we drill everything that you seen Fight night.

We drilled it time and time again, time and time again.

So it was, it was, it came natural and easy for me when the, when the fight came, you know, like I said, only thing they kept saying, how he's going to beat me is because he's bigger and he's stronger.

And I was just like, how do you know he's stronger than me?

He might be bigger than me, but big don't mean stronger.

But it was just, the technique was what really stood out.

It's like you just were a master in there.

That's something that they wasn't giving me credit for as well.

You know, I don't know what it is with me.

They just always try to diminish my accomplishments and, oh, well, who I was fighting.

They say, oh, well, you wasn't fighting nobody.

And this guy, Errol Spence, is the most fundamentally sound fighter in the game, so That's why everybody was picking them, but I was favorite in Vegas.

Yeah, well the wise people picked you as a favorite, you know, just based on your accomplishments.

It's not like Errol Spence wasn't a great fighter.

He's a great fighter, but it's so interesting when you watch a great fighter against what I believe is an all-time great.

It's just that there's just levels upon levels upon levels upon levels.

And right now, you're at the top of the fucking mountain.

When you planned for that fight, you knew that you were probably gonna fight him like for the last few years.

There was a point in time where I was like, you know, I shifted gears and I shifted my mind off of Aerosmith because I didn't feel like the fight was going to happen.

But Once I left top rank and we started negotiating, I was like, oh, well, maybe this fight will happen.

Then once I fought Avanesian because the conversations and everything that we was talking about to get the fight done, it wasn't lining up to what I wanted.

And then I came back to the table and like, hey, listen, let's get this fight made.

And at that point in time, things wasn't going how I would have liked it to go So I just hit up Spence like hey man listen man If if me you're gonna fight me and you're gonna get this done because you know there's a lot of people that Blocking the fight.

How are they blocking like what was the was the whole

which is business wise you know I just felt like I was worth X amount and they felt like I wasn't.

And they wanted to do the deal a certain way.

And I wanted to do the deal the fair way.

He was just, he was, he was agreeing with everything that I said He was like, yeah, we can do this we can do that And he probably felt like he gave up too much, you know at the at the end when it was all said and done, but I felt like everything was fair.

And so this fight had been discussed for how many years now?

That's crazy that it takes that long for something like this to happen in boxing.

When I came to the welterweight division, I called out all the champions, except Sean Porter.

I wanted them all, you know, at that time.

And I wasn't able to get in the ring with any of them.

And at that point in time, they was calling Aerospence the boogeyman.

And my reply was, how is he the boogeyman when I'm chasing him?

I just wanted to prove to the world that I was better than what they say I was because given the fact that how great I looked against each opponent.

They say, oh, well, he wasn't nothing, or he was this, he was that, because how talented I am.

So they didn't want to give me no credit because I passed all my tests with flying colors.

So, it was great to get in the ring with Errol Spence Jr.

And do the same thing, if not better, than I did for the past opponents that I faced.

It's sort of the same thing that Roy Jones Jr.

Like, everybody's like, Roy hasn't beaten anybody.

It's just he's so much better than everybody else, that he was making everybody else look like they weren't any good.

those were world championship caliber fighters, and Roy was just lighting them

That's, that sometimes when a fighter eclipses everyone else and reaches the pinnacle, that's the criticism they face until there's an undeniable moment, you know, and that was, that was your undeniable moment.

And that's, and that's what, you know, my, my feelings was, You know a lot of people like man, you didn't look too happy You know after after you won after you won I didn't see the excitement in you.

I was happy, just I had to prove myself, you know, to the world how great I knew I was, but at the same time, I was kind of disappointed at the same time that it took this long for me to get my recognition, for me to get a big marquee fight of this status at 35 years old.

Yeah, especially after chasing it for 5 years.

Right, and I was chasing Manny Pacquiao for probably 5 years, probably before that.

So it's like, I've been champion for 9 years, going on 10 years in March.

So I've been doing this game for a long time, you know, and I've been at the top since since since I'll be Gamboa and I've been looking for all the biggest challenges there is and Some of them I was able to To capture and some of them went the other way.

And I'm just blessed to be able to be the first man to be undisputed in a junior welterweight division.

The first man to be undisputed in a welterweight division in the four-bell era.

The first man to be undisputed in 2 weight divisions.

It's a huge blessing, it's an amazing accomplishment.

You looked happy, you were dancing with your mom, you were having a good time.

Because, you know, when you go in the back room everybody want to see the excitement, right?

Was there anything unusual about that fight like did is that exactly how you expected the exchanges to go?

I'm sure you watched a ton of tape on him, right?

I didn't, because a lot of people always ask me, do I watch a lot of film on my opponents?

And I always tell them no, because I have a different style.

They not going to fight me the same style or the same way that they fought their previous opponents.

They just not you know So I already knew how he fought.

I just watched probably like 2 fights of his just to get a feel for what he like to do, what he don't like, the things that I can capitalize on.

And that's it, I don't watch too much film because I'm gonna make my adjustments on the fly inside the ring.

What is the general consensus on that, about watching film?

No, some people like to watch film to where they feel as if they know what their opponent's going to do, when they're going to do it, because they got certain habits to identify when they're going to throw a punch or when they're going to back up.

Certain things that you see as a top athlete, you start noticing, okay, I noticed that he's doing this when he's doing this, he's doing that when he's doing this, and you pick up on that.

And so you put it in your mind, like, okay, we're gonna prepare for this.

I let my coaches, they do the studying, and then they come up with a plan, and then they shoot me the plan to win, and we just go from there.

When you switch, because you're, in my opinion, the best ever at switching from Orthodox to Southpaw, since Marvin Hagler, you're the best ever.

Do you go out there, Southpaw sometimes, and say, I'm gonna fucking switch it up?

Well, I think I made the change to fight Southpaw in the back dress room.

Yeah, because I was like, man, how should I come out?

Because in my mind, I was just so filled with like the energy from the weigh-ins, the press conference, the weight, the moment.

So I was like, man, I just wanna go out there.

You know, everybody's saying I'm too small, so I wanted to prove them wrong.

Everybody was saying he was gonna walk me down, so I was just like, man, You know, they just don't know.

I just had that chip on my shoulder, like I just want to go head on with the bull and just go fight him.

And then I was remembering, I was like, he never fought too many Southpaws before.

And then on 1 of the occasions he got hurt real bad by a hook.

So I was like, I'm coming out Southpaw and we gonna box.

Just to start off, but at the same time, I'm gonna get my respect out the gate.

So the plan was never to move and everybody when you interview them, they was like, Oh, Terrence got to be slippery.

I'm like I'm gonna be right there in front of him like I always do you know I'm gonna make a miss and make him pay and I'm gonna fight my my fight.

So I feel like that was the key for The victory because he wasn't used to fighting Southpaws

Do you feel as comfortable Orthodox as Southpaw?

Is there do you feel like you're better in 1 stance or is it just depending upon the opponent?

I think it's depending on the opponent, You know, I feel I'm equally as Great in both stands.

I hit Just as hard with my left probably even harder with my left than my right, you know, but I think it's the opponent.

They were talking about it in the broadcast.

They said that when you were a kid, you hurt your hand.

And so that's why you started practicing southpaw.

Yeah, that's when I started actually practicing it.

You know, that was something that when I had the cast on, I was like, man, I love the gym so much.

Like I'm going to practice with this left.

Because at first, when I go southpaw, it was only, you know, my right, my right, my right.

Then when my hand got messed up, just started working on the left and it started getting stronger and stronger.

And I started getting more accurate, because at first, it was just throwing, just to be throwing it.

And then, you know, it just got to a point where they both, my left was actually way stronger than my right when it came back.

It's crazy that you have that option, because that's such an amazing advantage, to be able to fight just as comfortably from orthodox or southpaw.

You know, I look at it like you can't go nowhere.

Like you move to your left, I can go southpaw and cut you off.

You move to your right, I can go orthodox and cut you off.

So, and then It's great that I can pack a punch in both hands as well, because a lot of people when they switch, they give up something.

I think when I switch, I gain something in both stands that I probably don't have in the other stands.


Speaker 0: The Joe Rogan Experience

Speaker 1: It's a wonderful thing that I had to fight to, you know, get everybody approval.

Speaker 0: Well, it's tricky in boxing sometimes because sometimes it's difficult to make those matchups happen and a dream matchup like that between 2 undefeated world champions and for you to dominate the way you did because a lot of people had that like a pick'em fight like a lot of people didn't know how to call it but you just fucking ran that fight you ran that fight that was amazing

Speaker 1: yeah you know that's a fight that we've been wanting for years, and to finally secure the fight and perform the way that I performed, it was a great moment for me and my career.

Speaker 0: It was beautiful, man. I mean, just the way you controlled, the way you switched things up, the way you controlled the pace of the fight, the defense, your defense was on point. Those hooks that you were landing in close were magnificent. It was a brilliant fight, man. I mean, I'm sure you appreciate it, I'm sure you watched it a bunch of times, but man, that was like a real, because it was such a mainstream fight, such a huge fight where everybody was paying attention to it and talking about it, even casuals, that they got to see you perform that way.

You know, now it's like there's no dispute. You're the number 1 pound-for-pound guy on earth.

Speaker 1: Yeah That's something that I got a credit to my coaches, you know, because we drill everything that you seen Fight night. We drilled it time and time again, time and time again. So it was, it was, it came natural and easy for me when the, when the fight came, you know, like I said, only thing they kept saying, how he's going to beat me is because he's bigger and he's stronger. That was it. You looked stronger.

Of course, of course. And I was just like, how do you know he's stronger than me? He might be bigger than me, but big don't mean stronger.

Speaker 0: Well, he's just taller than you. You look more muscular than him too. But it was just, the technique was what really stood out. It's like you just were a master in there. It was a master class.

Speaker 1: That's something that they wasn't giving me credit for as well. How? That's the

Speaker 0: thing. It's like, how

Speaker 1: are they not? You know, I don't know what it is with me. They just always try to diminish my accomplishments and, oh, well, who I was fighting. They say, oh, well, you wasn't fighting nobody. And this guy, Errol Spence, is the most fundamentally sound fighter in the game, so That's why everybody was picking them, but I was favorite in Vegas.

So Vegas must have had it, right?

Speaker 0: Yeah, well the wise people picked you as a favorite, you know, just based on your accomplishments. It's not like Errol Spence wasn't a great fighter. He's a great fighter, but it's so interesting when you watch a great fighter against what I believe is an all-time great. It's just that there's just levels upon levels upon levels upon levels. And right now, you're at the top of the fucking mountain.

Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes. And I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it.

Speaker 0: Beautiful, you deserve it. You deserve it. When you planned for that fight, you knew that you were probably gonna fight him like for the last few years. It was something that was on the table.

Speaker 1: Well, not really. There was a point in time where I was like, you know, I shifted gears and I shifted my mind off of Aerosmith because I didn't feel like the fight was going to happen. But Once I left top rank and we started negotiating, I was like, oh, well, maybe this fight will happen. Then once I fought Avanesian because the conversations and everything that we was talking about to get the fight done, it wasn't lining up to what I wanted. So I decided to take another fight.

And then I came back to the table and like, hey, listen, let's get this fight made. And at that point in time, things wasn't going how I would have liked it to go So I just hit up Spence like hey man listen man If if me you're gonna fight me and you're gonna get this done because you know there's a lot of people that Blocking the fight.

Speaker 0: How are they blocking like what was the was the whole

Speaker 1: which is business wise you know I just felt like I was worth X amount and they felt like I wasn't. And they wanted to do the deal a certain way. And I wanted to do the deal the fair way. And Aerosmith seen it. He was just, he was, he was agreeing with everything that I said He was like, yeah, we can do this we can do that And he probably felt like he gave up too much, you know at the at the end when it was all said and done, but I felt like everything was fair.

Speaker 0: Was it in terms of the purse split?

Speaker 1: Everything. We talked about everything.

Speaker 0: Yeah. And so this fight had been discussed for how many years now? 5. 5 years. Wow.

That's crazy that it takes that long for something like this to happen in boxing.

Speaker 1: When I came to the welterweight division, I called out all the champions, except Sean Porter. I called out all the champions. I wanted them all, you know, at that time. And I wasn't able to get in the ring with any of them. And at that point in time, they was calling Aerospence the boogeyman.

And my reply was, how is he the boogeyman when I'm chasing him? I just wanted to prove to the world that I was better than what they say I was because given the fact that how great I looked against each opponent. They say, oh, well, he wasn't nothing, or he was this, he was that, because how talented I am. So they didn't want to give me no credit because I passed all my tests with flying colors. So, it was great to get in the ring with Errol Spence Jr.

And do the same thing, if not better, than I did for the past opponents that I faced.

Speaker 0: No, you were on fire. It's sort of the same thing that Roy Jones Jr. Faced. Like, everybody's like, Roy hasn't beaten anybody. Like, yes, he has.

It's just he's so much better than everybody else, that he was making everybody else look like they weren't any good.

Speaker 1: But

Speaker 0: those were world championship caliber fighters, and Roy was just lighting them

Speaker 1: up. Right.

Speaker 0: That's, that sometimes when a fighter eclipses everyone else and reaches the pinnacle, that's the criticism they face until there's an undeniable moment, you know, and that was, that was your undeniable moment. Like everybody's gotta shut the fuck up

Speaker 1: now. Yeah, yeah. And that's, and that's what, you know, my, my feelings was, You know a lot of people like man, you didn't look too happy You know after after you won after you won I didn't see the excitement in you. I was like, man, I was happy. I was happy, just I had to prove myself, you know, to the world how great I knew I was, but at the same time, I was kind of disappointed at the same time that it took this long for me to get my recognition, for me to get a big marquee fight of this status at 35 years old.

Speaker 0: Yeah, especially after chasing it for 5 years.

Speaker 1: Right, and I was chasing Manny Pacquiao for probably 5 years, probably before that. So it's like, I've been champion for 9 years, going on 10 years in March. So I've been doing this game for a long time, you know, and I've been at the top since since since I'll be Gamboa and I've been looking for all the biggest challenges there is and Some of them I was able to To capture and some of them went the other way. And I'm just blessed to be able to be the first man to be undisputed in a junior welterweight division. The first man to be undisputed in a welterweight division in the four-bell era.

The first man to be undisputed in 2 weight divisions. So it's a blessing, it's a blessing.

Speaker 0: It's a huge blessing, it's an amazing accomplishment. You looked happy, you were dancing with your mom, you were having a good time. Yeah, of course. I don't know

Speaker 1: why people thought you weren't happy. Because, you know, when you go in the back room everybody want to see the excitement, right? I was just like I got that off my back. Yeah, well, you know, I'm relieved

Speaker 0: Was there anything unusual about that fight like did is that exactly how you expected the exchanges to go? I'm sure you watched a ton of tape on him, right?

Speaker 1: Actually, I didn't. Really? I didn't, because a lot of people always ask me, do I watch a lot of film on my opponents? And I always tell them no, because I have a different style. They not going to fight me the same style or the same way that they fought their previous opponents.

They just not you know So I already knew how he fought. I just watched probably like 2 fights of his just to get a feel for what he like to do, what he don't like, the things that I can capitalize on. And that's it, I don't watch too much film because I'm gonna make my adjustments on the fly inside the ring. So yeah, I don't watch too much film.

Speaker 0: That's interesting. What is the general consensus on that, about watching film? Do most champions watch film? Is it just on an individual basis?

Speaker 1: No, some people like to watch film to where they feel as if they know what their opponent's going to do, when they're going to do it, because they got certain habits to identify when they're going to throw a punch or when they're going to back up. Certain things that you see as a top athlete, you start noticing, okay, I noticed that he's doing this when he's doing this, he's doing that when he's doing this, and you pick up on that. And so you put it in your mind, like, okay, we're gonna prepare for this. When you do that, we're gonna do this. So you try to capitalize on it.

But me, I never was that type of person. I let my coaches, they do the studying, and then they come up with a plan, and then they shoot me the plan to win, and we just go from there.

Speaker 0: When you switch, because you're, in my opinion, the best ever at switching from Orthodox to Southpaw, since Marvin Hagler, you're the best ever. Like, when do you decide? Do you just feel it? Do you go out there, Southpaw sometimes, and say, I'm gonna fucking switch it up? Like, how do you make those changes?

Speaker 1: Well, I think I made the change to fight Southpaw in the back dress room. Really? Yeah, because I was like, man, how should I come out? Because in my mind, I was just so filled with like the energy from the weigh-ins, the press conference, the weight, the moment. So I was like, man, I just wanna go out there.

You know, everybody's saying I'm too small, so I wanted to prove them wrong. Everybody was saying he was gonna walk me down, so I was just like, man, You know, they just don't know. I just had that chip on my shoulder, like I just want to go head on with the bull and just go fight him. And they was like, just box. I was like, just box.

And then I was remembering, I was like, he never fought too many Southpaws before. And then on 1 of the occasions he got hurt real bad by a hook. So I was like, I'm coming out Southpaw and we gonna box. Just to start off, but at the same time, I'm gonna get my respect out the gate. I'm not gonna be doing all that moving.

So the plan was never to move and everybody when you interview them, they was like, Oh, Terrence got to be slippery. He can't stand in front of Spence. He can't do this. He got to get on his bicycle. I'm like He ain't no Terminator.

I'm like I'm gonna be right there in front of him like I always do you know I'm gonna make a miss and make him pay and I'm gonna fight my my fight. So I feel like that was the key for The victory because he wasn't used to fighting Southpaws

Speaker 0: Do you feel as comfortable Orthodox as Southpaw? Is there do you feel like you're better in 1 stance or is it just depending upon the opponent?

Speaker 1: I think it's depending on the opponent, You know, I feel I'm equally as Great in both stands. I'm very powerful in both stands. I hit Just as hard with my left probably even harder with my left than my right, you know, but I think it's the opponent.

Speaker 0: They were talking about it in the broadcast. They said that when you were a kid, you hurt your hand. And so that's why you started practicing southpaw.

Speaker 1: Yeah, that's when I started actually practicing it. You know, that was something that when I had the cast on, I was like, man, I love the gym so much. I'm like, man, I'm not leaving the gym. Like I'm going to practice with this left. And that's when I got the left stronger.

Because at first, when I go southpaw, it was only, you know, my right, my right, my right. Then when my hand got messed up, just started working on the left and it started getting stronger and stronger. And I started getting more accurate, because at first, it was just throwing, just to be throwing it. And then, you know, it just got to a point where they both, my left was actually way stronger than my right when it came back. So I had to get my right back stronger.

Speaker 0: That's crazy. It's crazy that you have that option, because that's such an amazing advantage, to be able to fight just as comfortably from orthodox or southpaw.

Speaker 1: Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely. You know, I look at it like you can't go nowhere. Like you trapped. Like you move to your left, I can go southpaw and cut you off.

You move to your right, I can go orthodox and cut you off. So, and then It's great that I can pack a punch in both hands as well, because a lot of people when they switch, they give up something. I think when I switch, I gain something in both stands that I probably don't have in the other stands. So it's great for me.

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Terence Crawford on Gaining Respect After Beating Errol Spence Jr.