Bradley: I was world champ and Crawford matched my level in sparring, I knew then he was special
Bradley breaks down what stood out about Crawford as a big unification fight with Spence looms large.
During a recent conversation with Fight Hub TV, boxing analyst Timothy Bradley breaks down why he believes we’ll ultimately land an undisputed unification between welterweight titleholders Errol Spence and Terence Crawford before recounting what he remembers from his past sparring sessions with Crawford that made him know he was a special talent. Check out some of what Bradley had to say below.
Bradley on if we’ll actually see a Spence vs Crawford fight
“I’m hoping like everybody. We just gotta remain patient. There’s a lot that goes into that. There’s a lot that goes into a big fight like that. Both these guys they have egos, they got to make sure that everything Ts are crossed, the Is are dotted. You got to make sure that everything is right and you’re comfortable with everything — and I’m talking about from the ring walk, who’s walking first, who’s walking second, hotel, tickets, I’m talking about everything...where the fight’s gonna be held, what’s your guarantee, what’s your PPV numbers, what’s my percentage on that. It has to be perfect and it takes time.
“I think both these guys are trying to work it out, I think they know how much the fans want to see this fight. It’s just in due time, when they get it right they’re gonna sign, seal, and deliver. They gonna deliver, they gonna have to.”
On what stood out to him the most about Crawford when he used him as a sparring partner in training camp
“Terence was, at that time — and this was a long time ago, he’s a lot better fighter now then he was when I was sparring him. But at that time it was just his timing, it was the fact that he was able to adapt. And the most thing that surprised me about him is that I was a world champion and you get into a firefight with most guys in the gym, they back down. They understand that you a champion, and so they’ll kind of back off a bit and let you beat on ‘em. He didn’t. He was like ‘nah uh.’
“So when like my game would rise, his game would rise. And I’m like ‘okay, let me step it up a little bit more.’ And then he’ll rise. And I’m like ‘oh, I gotta go all out now,’ and he’ll meet me. He just kept meeting me, man. And I’m like ‘holy crap, this kid is different.’ And then the skills on top of that, I found out he was a right-hander instead of a southpaw and he fought so comfortably out of a southpaw stance. So those were surprising things for me and just that grit, determination, and his ability to make adjustments on the fly.
“I would spar him one day and he’s one way, and then I would spar him the next day and he’s a completely different fighter. And I’m like ‘wait, hold up, he didn’t even make that same mistake he made yesterday. I worked on trying to make this dude pay, now I got to go back to the drawing board. Damn, this kid is clever.’ And he did it all by himself. He didn’t have a trainer there. He was all by himself. So that’s what made him special.”