Terence Crawford responded to a backlash of his victory over Errol Spence Jr. after his rival stated he was injured in the fight.
‘Bud’ unleashed his social media beast at fans, Spence, Teofimo Lopez, and his legacy inside the ring. The detonation came after Spence claimed to have a severe eye ailment when losing via stoppage to Crawford last summer.
Remaining quiet for months, Spence suddenly posted a video of himself getting surgery for cataracts. He then blamed the hindrance on taking too many shots versus Crawford.
Detractors of Crawford took pleasure in taking Spence’s words and twisting them against the Omaha man. It didn’t take long for the Pound for Pound number two to fire back after initially stating, ‘no comment.’
Terence Crawford fires back
“Hate it or love it, I’m just that guy,” pointed out Crawford. “Anytime a fighter opens their mouth, they mouth my name in it, so what does that tell you?
“I fought everyone and everybody that was put on my table. I have never turned down a fight in my life. Even if it was late notice, moving up in weight.
“Short fighters, tall fighters, strong fighters, fast fighters, boxers, brawlers, etc. I fought them all.”
Having previously complained about Naoya Inoue being named Fighter of the Year for 2023, Crawford addressed the reason why this may have been the case.
Fans and media put it down to Crawford only fighting Spence and not staying active. Crawford put that down to opponents not accepting offers.
“I wish I could fight more than one time a year, but these guys have been running and hiding for years. Boxing is nothing like it used to be when everyone fought each other.
“I live in the gym. But my whole career, these fighters have been running behind people saying, I’m on the wrong side of the street, call this guy, call that guy! Make it make sense.”
Crawford vs Spence rematch
Crawford vs Spence II, a contract rematch between the pair, was due to be next before the revelation. But Spence’s eye will need at least six weeks to recover from going under the knife.
That could put Crawford in a position where he only fights once in 2024 and has another year between bouts.
An alternative route would be moving up to 154 pounds and getting a warm-up fight before Spence. However, that could mean altering the weight class for a Spence return, and both would have to agree.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer and has been the Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
