THE LONG BATTLE FOR RECOGNITION
what the weight is. It don’t matter how big he is. As long as I go out there and be myself, then I’ll be just fine. The Ring: Your performance against Errol Spence was sensational. However, a lot of critics put more focus on Spence being shot or damaged goods than the brilliance of your victory. How does that make you feel when you read this stuff on social media? TC: This is part of my career and my story. I learned to take it all in. At first, I used to get mad. I’d say, “They don’t know what they’re talking about!” I’d argue with people on the internet, but you can’t change people’s opinions. It’s just people who want someone to win so bad, they’ll do whatever they can to diminish your victory. They’re battling with depression off of a sport. You and the person you fought have gone home to their families and are living a normal life, while some people are still out there stressing about who won and who lost. The Ring: If you beat Canelo, do you… TC: When I beat Canelo. The Ring: My apologies. (laughs) When you beat Canelo, do you envision a similar reaction from critics? What excuses do you think they’d make if you win this fight? TC: They’re going to make some kind of excuse. I honestly believe that anything I do in the ring will not be appreciated. I’ve been dealing with this for too long to think otherwise. There’s always going to be something. I’ve been dealing with this after every single one of my fights since I became world champion. The Ring: When you speak about this, I’m reminded of Marvelous Marvin Hagler. His signature win was
Thomas Hearns, but people sometimes forget, that’s only two years before his permanent retirement. Up until that win, he didn’t feel appreciated. Can you identify with him? TC: If you don’t put yourself out there and adopt the characteristics of other people who are popular or doing certain things, then people tend to not support you as much as a
impact than it would have been had I just jabbed at him. To be honest, my best punch is the one that land. (laughs) The Ring: You’re fighting the No. 1 boxing attraction in Las Vegas on Mexican Independence Weekend. What goes through your head when I mention the word “judges”? TC: We don’t control the judges, it’s neutral, and at the same time, I can’t focus solely on the judges. I don’t want to take away from my preparation by thinking about not getting a fair shake. As I’ve said before, I’m behind the starting line and he’s already ahead of the starting line. I know what I’ve got to do. I know what I’m up against. That’s why we’re going to put the work in to make sure that we do it the right way and get the victory. The Ring: In your mind’s eye, how does this fight play out? What do you see? TC: I see victory. I’m looking for whatever fight I need to fight. Whatever fight he brings to the table, I’m going to make my adjustments, dissect what he does, and come up with a plan inside the ring to beat him. When we’re in the ring, the dynamic of the fight is going to switch. Canelo is a thinking man, he’s got experience, so I don’t expect him to come in and fight one style. He’s going to be calculated, make his adjustments, and do things to throw me off. It’s not going to be the same fight from start to finish. We’ll have a great fight and put on a great show. The Ring: You’ve got a big family, a beautiful family. When your career is over, would you just put your feet up and enjoy life, or would you stay in boxing in some capacity? TC: I’ll definitely be involved in the sport, being that I’ve got a boxing gym, a nonprofit organization. I’ve got the fighters in the gym; the professionals that my team help coach, so I’ll definitely be involved.
braggadocious, flashy-type guy. If you’re humble and try to do
everything right and you’re respectful [then it goes against you]. People want to see controversy, they want to see the lifestyle, they want to see what car you drive, they want to see what type of girl you have, what brand you wear, what kind of jewelry you got, your houses – they want to see all that. If they can’t get into your personal space, then they say, “Ah, this dude ain’t nuthin!” They’ll say, “He don’t talk stuff and he don’t have no personality!” They build up this character that they perceive you to be because they can’t get into your space or your circle. Your circle knows the different sides of you, but if you don’t put that out there so that they can suck out all the energy, then people just push the negatives. If you don’t feed into that, then they’ll continue with that narrative. The Ring: Canelo has a lot of weapons, but a signature shot is the left hook. We never hear about Terence Crawford having a signature shot, I think because you switch and punch good with both hands, so it’s difficult to pigeonhole a single punch. However, can you discuss your lead hand, your right hand, when you’re in the southpaw position? You vary that shot up brilliantly, from befuddling Spence with the jab to stunning Kell Brook by using it as a power shot. Kell didn’t even know what he’d been hit with. TC: It’s something that’s been practiced in the gym, over and over. You practice different types of jab, using different angles. At that particular time [against Brook], he happened to be coming forward, which made a bigger
David Avanesyan can confirm Crawford’s body-punching abilities.
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