JRE MMA Show #145 with Terence Crawford
2023-08-18 02:03:51
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Terrence Crawford, what's it like to be the fucking man?
Man, it's great. I feel like I've always been the man.
I think you have been the man for a long time. But I think two weeks ago everybody realized it.
Yeah, everybody give me my recognition now, and everybody give me my flowers. It's a wonderful thing that I had to fight to get everybody's 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 two undefeated world champions, and for you to dominate the way you did. Because a lot of people had that like a pick-em fight. 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.
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. And, you know, now it's like there's no dispute. You're the number one pound-for-pound guy on Earth.
Yeah. That's something that I got to credit to my coaches, you know, because we drilled everything that you seen fight night, we drilled it time and time again, time and time again. So it was – it came natural and easy for me 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? Right.
He might be bigger than me, but big don't mean stronger.
But 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.
That's something that they wasn't giving me credit for as well. How? Because they said –.
That's the thing. It's like. how 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 him.
But I was favorite in Vegas. So Vegas must have had it right.
Yeah, well, the wise people picked you as a favorite, 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. There's just levels upon levels upon levels upon levels.
And right now you're at the top of the fucking mountain.
Yes, yes, yes. And I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying it.
You deserve it. You deserve it. When you planned for that fight, you knew that you were probably going to fight him for the last few years. It was something that was on the table.
But not really. There was a point in time where I was like, you know, I shifted gears and I shifted my mind off of Errol Spence 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.
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 me and you going to fight me and you're going to get this done because, you know, there's a lot of people that are blocking the fight.
How were they blocking? Like, what was the holdup?
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 Aerospence seen it.
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 end, when it was all said and done. But I felt like everything was fair.
Was it in terms of, like, the purse split?
Everything. We talked about everything.
Yeah. And so this fight had been discussed for, like, how many years now?
Five.
Five years. Wow. 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 Shawn 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? You know, 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 Aerospence Jr.
and do the same thing, if not better, than I did for the past opponents that I faced.
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. But those were world championship caliber fighters, and Roy was just lighting them up. And that's 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 your undeniable moment.
Like everybody's got to shut the fuck up.
Yeah, yeah. And that's what, you know, my feelings was. You know, a lot of people are like, man, you didn't look too happy. You know, 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 and for me to get a big marquee fight of this status at 35 years old.
Yeah, especially after chasing it for five years.
Right, and I was chasing Manny Pacquiao for probably five years, probably before that. Yeah. So it's like I've been champion for nine 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 I beat Gamboa, and I've been looking for all the biggest challenges there is. And some of them I was able 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 the junior welterweight division, the first man to be undisputed in the welterweight division in the four-bell era, the first man to be undisputed in two-weight divisions.
So it's a blessing. It's a blessing.
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.
I don't know why people thought you weren't happy.
Because, you know, when you go in the back room, everybody wants to see the excitement. Right. I was just like, ah, I got that off my back. Yeah. It was a sign of relief.
Was there anything unusual about that fight? Like, is that exactly how you expected the exchanges to go? I'm sure you watched a ton of tape on him, right?
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're 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, two fights of his, just to get a feel for what he liked to do, what he don't like, the things that, you know, I can capitalize on. And that's it. Like, I don't watch too much film because I'm going to make my adjustments on the fly inside the ring.
So, yeah, I don't watch too much film.
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?
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 notice 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 going to prepare for this. When he do that, we're going to 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.
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 going to fucking switch it up?
Like, how do you make those changes?
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 want to go out there.
You know, everybody's saying I'm too small, so I wanted to prove them wrong. Everybody was saying he was going to walk me down. So I was just like, man, you know, they just don't know. Like, I just had that chip on my shoulder. Like, I just wanted 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 one of the occasions, he got hurt real bad by a hook. So I was like, I'm coming out, southpaw, and we going to box, just to start off.
But at the same time, I'm going to get my respect out the gate. I'm not going to 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, man, I'm going to be right there in front of him, like I always do. I'm going to make him miss, I'm going to make him pay, and I'm going to fight 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? Do you feel like you're better in one stance, or is it just depending upon the opponent?
I think it's depending on the opponent. I feel I'm equally as great in both stance. I'm very powerful in both stance. I hit just as hard with my left, probably even harder with my left than my right.
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. 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. 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 my right, my right, my right. Then, when my hand got messed up, I started working on the left, and it started getting stronger and stronger, and I started getting more accurate, because at first it's just throw it just to be throwing it.
Then it just got to a point where my left was actually way stronger than my right when it came back, so I had to get my right back stronger.
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 to southpaw.
Oh, yeah, definitely, definitely.
I look at it like you can't go nowhere. You're trapped. 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. 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 other stands.
It's great for me.
Did anybody ever try to discourage you from switching up that much?
Of course. Did they? My coach, he used to get mad. You need to focus on one stance and doing it right before you start switching. You ain't even got the orthodox stance down, pack all the way, and then you trying to go southpaw.
I'm like, all right, all right. Then I go orthodox and then in the fight, boom. I switch, then I switch back. He's like, stop switching. Then I win the fight like, what?
When did he stop telling you to stop switching?
When I was winning. He was like, all right, since I can't stop you from switching, we're just going to train that way. If you do four rounds, you're going to do two rounds. southpaw, you're going to do two rounds orthodox. That's just how we started training.
It's amazing how it turned out. For Spence, who always fights southpaw, to see you as a southpaw too, probably created a little bit of an adjustment for him.
Yeah, especially given that he wasn't fighting too many southpaws in his whole career that much.
It seemed like after you dropped him in the second, somewhere in the middle of the third, you started to turn the heat up. Then you started closing the distance and you were smothering him. Somewhere in the third, it seemed like you picked up the intensity. Is that when you felt like you started to get to him?
Yeah, I felt like I was in control the whole fight.
The first round, neither one of us really did anything. We were just filling each other out. The second round, he started picking it up a little bit. I caught him with them two shots. I felt like that's what led me to get more control, because I felt as if I caught him off guard.
He wasn't expecting me to punch as hard as I did, so I could see on his face. he was kind of like, whoa.
Then the rest, I was in control. Yeah, you were in control.
It's an amazing performance, but now that you've accomplished this, and now that you're the first man ever to be undisputed in two different weight classes, what are the offers? now? I hear all this talk about Jermell. I hear this talk about Canelo. Where are they at right now?
Canelo and Jermell was fighting. I wanted to fight Jermell next, since he was the 154-pound undisputed champion, but, as you know, they're going to strip him for his belt once the bell rings when he fights, Canelo.
So your goal was to go up and become undisputed in three different weight classes.
There you go. There you go. Wow. Something that never been done before. Right.
It's greatness. Like I said, this is my era, and I'm taking it. Ain't nobody going to stop me. So, now that I didn't shift gears because I know I wanted to fight Jermell, but if he lose to Canelo, I wouldn't. I always said, man, that's a big step.
That's a big step. But for a person to go up three weight classes, from 147 to 168 and to win and become undisputed, wow. What can they say? They can't say nothing right now, but what can they say?
Well, then you're in, like, the greatest of all time discussion.
I'm already in them discussions. But I'm saying, but what would they say, though? Three-time undisputed champion and a smaller fighter that went up three weight divisions to conquer one of the baddest men besides himself that's been doing it for probably longer than me.
So you said 68, but you mean 54, right?
No, 68..
You want to go up to 68.. Yeah. So who would you fight at 68, Canelo?
Yeah, if he win, or Charlo, the winner. Wow.
That would be crazy.
I want to be three-time undisputed.
To jump up like that, 21 pounds?
Yes.
What do you walk around at?
I don't know.
You don't know? I don't know.
You got a scale. I don't know. I don't know. You know what I mean?
But how much time would you need to prepare for something like that? Would you gain weight? Would you do anything different?
I would definitely have to gain weight. And I just believe in my abilities. Canelo's not a big guy. You know, he's 5'8".
Right, fought at 52, when he fought Pac, yeah. Or when he fought Floyd, rather.
He's big, muscular-wise. But as far as height, nah. So, yeah. That wouldn't be nothing that we have to see.
That would be insane. For you to go from 140 all the way up to 168..
That would be dope. Woo! I think it can happen. I think that's, to be honest, I think that's the biggest fight in boxing. He beat Charlo, Terrence Crawford, Canelo.
That's the biggest fight in boxing, hands down. No other fighters could compare to that, you know. No disrespect to Charlo, but he's not a superstar. He's not, you know, on Canelo's level. Now, he got a chance.
Don't get me wrong. Like, he's going to do well in that fight. And he got the tools to win. You know, it's just about preparation and what type of fight he fight.
Now, Canelo and him are fighting at 68.. And when are they fighting? Is that September?
Yes, September 30th, I think.
So, when would you like to get back in? Like, what would be good for you? Like, how much of a turnaround?
Well, if they fight in September, it would probably be next year. That would give me time to, you know. Bulk up. Yeah, get my body right.
What kind of strength and conditioning routine do you do now? Do you, because how much, is it difficult for you to make 47, or is it pretty easy?
No, it was a little difficult. Yeah? It was a little difficult. Yeah. I had to wear the little plastics and sauna suits this time.
But, you know, I don't know what it is. I go up and wait, and then the weight be going up on me.
Your body adapts.
Yeah.
Likes to heat. Likes to get thick.
Right. So, it's cool, though. It's cool.
So, when, like on a normal camp, what does your training routine consist of? Like, do you do running? Do you do strength and conditioning workouts in the gym? Like, what do you do as far as, like, physical preparation?
I do it all. I run, I swim, strength and conditioning,
plyometrics, all that.
You do swimming?
Yes.
A lot of people are doing swimming now.
I've been doing that my whole career. Really?
What do you like about swimming?
I just think, you know, it helps on your breathing. It helps on your breathing, your endurance. It's better on your joints, because we don't run every day. Right. So, yeah, it helps tremendously.
And do you lift weights?
Yeah. Yeah. But not heavy. We lift probably, like, 20 pounds, some light.
Mm-hmm. Just a lot of endurance work. Yeah.
Little quick twist muscles.
So, if you have a fight where you're going to go up to 168 pounds, how much time do you think you need to get ready physically for that?
I'm ready now. You're ready now.
I'm the type of fighter that I just believe in myself, you know, and I don't think a lot of people think it's all about weight, but I think it's about the skills. You know, I got the power to make anybody respect me. I don't care what your weight is. If I catch you in the right spot at the right time, you're going to feel it. You know, and I just feel like it's called boxing.
for a reason. I'm going to outthink you.
Yeah. Well, you showed that in that fight. I mean, the defense, everything, man. It was a master class. That's what I love about boxing.
Like, if I wanted to show someone a boxing match, I would show a fight like that. Like, this is what I love about boxing. Like, this man is right in front of that dude, and he's rolling with every shot. He's picking off every shot, the other dude throws at him, and he's countering with, like, split-second timing.
Yeah, and that's hard to do. That's hard to do. And you got to be comfortable enough to have confidence, that you got to take chances. Like, when I dropped him with the uppercut and the hook, I got hit.
With a left hand, right?
Yeah. I got hit while I was throwing the uppercut, but I knew that going into it because I baited him in and set a trap. So, in my mind, I'm going to take one to get this off and then come back with something else. And that's how I got the second drop.
Yeah, that uppercut was genius. It was just inside, tight, boom.
Perfect time.
How hard does Spence hit?
He didn't hit that hard.
But he never caught you that clean. That was probably the best shot he landed.
No, he caught me a couple of times, but, you know, I was surprised at how hard he didn't hit. Really? Given that everybody say, oh, he's a big puncher. I think he's just a volume puncher. I think he just wears his opponents down, just wear them down.
I don't think, you know, he has a one-punch knockout. He has power, but it's not like, you know, boom, sleep. You know what I mean? I think it's like, bam, oh, boom, boom, boom, boom. And then he just wear you down.
Right, yeah.
That is a difference, right?
Because if you look at his career, you never seen him, like, knock nobody out with one punch. You never see him, you know, dropping nobody with one punch. You always see him, like, wearing them down, wearing them down. That's why he go so hard to the body, because he want to wear you down. Then, once you get tired and once your body start weakening, everything start weakening.
And those little punches that wasn't hurting start hurting.
Well, that was probably your most anticipated fight. But what do you think was, like, your most difficult fight?
I would think Gamboa. Really? I would say Gamboa, because the experience at the time, you know, you got to understand. I came from fighting six-round fights, you know, to a ten-round fight on HBO when I got the Bredis Peresky fight. So then I fight him.
Then I fight another guy for interim, the NABO. And then I fight for title eliminator in clean off. And then I fight Ricky Burns. And then I come back and fight Gamboa when I become champion. And Gamboa was labeled the next Floyd Mayweather.
He was on the pound-for-pound list. You know, everybody had Gamboa at a high rating, you know. So he's Olympic gold medal, you know. He had the experience over me. And so I think I learned a lot in that fight.
And that's what made it, you know, hard, because that was something that I never experienced in a fighter before. So it was a great learning experience.
That's one of the most interesting things about watching a very talented fighter is seeing how they respond to the next level of opposition and the next level of challenges. Like you're saying, going up from six rounds to eight rounds, to ten to twelve and seeing the different caliber of competition. You know, when you look at, like, a boxer's career, it's interesting because when they're kind of at the end of the line in their late 30s, it's the time when they have the most experience. They know the most. But their body doesn't really perform as well anymore.
There's this kind of balancing act. And the guy who beat that better than anybody was Bernard Hopkins. Because Bernard was world class up until he was 50, which is so crazy. Like, how the fuck did he do that?
I think, because his body was more preserved than when he was in jail and he didn't have all the wear and tear on his body. You know, my guy, Steven Nelson, he's another one. He's 35 years old and he's still moving like he's young, because he never did no sports. He started boxing at, like, 18..
Oh. No injuries.
He just had an injury a few years ago. He tore his Achilles. He was out for two years, but he's back like nothing happened.
That's a big one.
Yeah.
Achilles is big. Jamal held the UFC Light Heavyweight Championships, tore his Achilles. That's a rough one.
Definitely.
Jamal tore it playing basketball, which is crazy.
He tore his sparn moving backwards. Really? Yes. He was just moving backwards. It wasn't nothing crazy.
He was just moving backwards and it just popped. Popped. He said he thought somebody, like, hit him. He was just like, he looked down. Like, man, he thought it was me at first.
I'm way on the bag. I'm like, what? He's like, man, I fucked up. I'm like, what? He was like, man, my Achilles.
I'm like, how you know? He was like, man, I heard it pop. It's like everybody getting around him. I'm like, man, you got to go to the hospital. Let's go.
Wow.
Two years. Two years out the gym. I mean, out the ring. That's a long one.
It's a crazy injury to come back from.
Yeah.
Because it's such a thick tendon. When it pops, it's just a disaster. Mm-hmm. Have you had any, like, significant injuries?
No.
That's amazing.
Yes.
So when you say, like, for Bernard, like, he preserved his body. I know you're very disciplined. And I know that, like, are you, do you ever take time, like, after a big fight like that, where you go off the rails and eat pizza every day and go crazy? Or do you stay disciplined?
Well, I don't eat beef or pork, but.
You don't eat beef or pork?
Or pork. Really? Yeah. But my eating habits is not the best. You know, I still drink, pop here and there.
I still, I didn't lighten up on candy. I used to eat tons of candy, like, every day. Really? I used to eat tons of candy, but, you know.
While you were fighting?
Yeah. In camp, too. I don't know. It was just something that, listen, I'm going to do this. I'm going to make way.
I'm going to get everything done. But I'm going to have my candy.
And, like. What kind of candy?
I just like the, you know, the Jolly Ranchers, the chewy ones. Just chewy, chewy candy. The Starbursts. The Gunnies. I used to just always eat those.
Well, when you're training a lot, it's not bad to have a little extra sugar. Like, Floyd used to drink sodas after he trained. Yeah. And everybody's like, why would he do that? But then I talked to a nutritionist, and he's like, it's actually, after a very hard workout, like sparring and hitting the bag, it's actually a good way to replenish glucose.
Yeah, that's probably why I always was drinking it. You know, and cutting weight. I don't know why. When I'm cutting weight, I'll be like, alright. Even though water, I mean, even though pop is going to make me more thirsty, I'll be like, I need a Sprite.
I need a Sprite, a cold Sprite. And they'll be like, what? I'll be like, I just need a Sprite.
How come you don't eat beef or pork?
I don't eat beef. Pork is just, you know, bad for you. It's unhealthy. You know, and I think when beef, I stopped eating beef like, probably like seven years ago, probably more than that. Really?
Yeah. I had back problems, and I was like, man, my back was just hurting so bad, and I didn't know what it was. So I went to the hospital. I went to the emergency. And so they did the MRI and CAT scan and stuff like that on my back.
And I had backed up shit all up my back.
What?
Backed up shit.
Really? That was what was hurting your back?
All beef. So since I cut out the beef, because they said beef is harder to digest and harder for your body to break down. So I stopped eating beef, and I ain't never had none of them issues ever again.
That's crazy. I've never heard anything like that.
Yeah.
So where do you get your protein from?
Chicken.
Just chicken?
Chicken, turkey.
Eggs, fish? Fish.
All that.
So chicken, turkey, fish.
Yeah.
That's crazy. I've never heard anybody have it. I eat mostly meat. Yeah. I think that's the most of my diet is meat.
You probably got a lot of shit in you. Nope.
No.
I bet you do.
I bet you do. You might not know it, but you got a lot of shit. Maybe I should get an MRI. No, maybe you should do a colon cleanse or something. Do you do colon cleanse?
No. Do one, and you're going to be amazed. Really?
I don't know about that.
I heard.
I don't think there's anything wrong.
I did one. I was doing one in this camp, and it was crazy.
Shit that come out of you, you'd be like, damn, I had that shit.
So did you do a colonic?
No.
A colonic is rough. Just take a hose up your ass.
Yeah, I ain't doing that. Yeah, I ain't doing that.
What did you do? What did you take?
No, I just take just a little colon cleanse, dietary. Not like supplements or stuff like that. Just stuff that. It's like fiber. Yeah, fiber that makes the shit come out.
And it's just, whoa.
Yeah, I did that before camp and stuff, and I was like, damn.
Do you have someone that prepares your meals? Yes. Yeah? So you got like a meal prep company?
I got a nutritionist. I got a chef, all that.
And you're also, I saw, are you a part of that snack thing, too? Yeah. Yeah, so what that is, is that dude from BALCO? Yeah, Victor Conti. So, Victor Conti, he was on the podcast back in the day.
So he's the guy that busted, or he got busted with Barry Bonds, The Clear, where they were giving him that undetectable steroids. And now he's on the other side of it. He's making sure that the whole sport is clean. Yeah. And nobody knows better than him, because he cheated for years.
Yes, and they hate it. They hate it because you'll see a lot of people like, oh, man, this dude was a cheater. This dude was this, this dude was that. And then, you know, you can't get nothing past him.
Well, he was a cheater, but, you know, just because a guy was a cheater. First of all, that's the kind of guy you would want being involved in cheating and catching cheating.
But he's trying to clean up the whole sport. Yeah. Like, it's not like he. like, all right, well, you know, I'm sponsoring you. You represent my brand.
He's trying to clean up the whole sport. So, you know, he's like, why is it like more transparency? Yeah. Where is the transparency? Like, where is this?
Where is that? Why can't the world know what's going on, you know, with the test that's going on? Yeah. The public should know, you know, if these fighters is clean or not. Right.
Because every month there's fighters coming up positive for steroids or banned substance.
Well, look at the Anthony Joshua-Dillian White fight. Yeah. It's canceled two weeks out. Yeah. Huge heavyweight fight.
Yeah. And Dillian White pops.
Yeah. Yeah. And that's not the first time.
No, he's popped before, right?
Yeah. Yeah. So it's sad for Anthony Joshua to, you know, go through those things that I'm training for this fighter and then he popped. now, boom, I'm hit with. Right.
Got to prepare for somebody else. And them, the worst ones, when they come, you know, at the last minute, and they ready. Right. Because some people just train just waiting for that. call.
Right. You know, you never know.
Also, him fighting Helanus after Deontay starched him. That's like because everyone's going to prepare, compare you, rather because Deontay, Deontay hits so hard, it doesn't even make sense. He hits so different than everybody else.
Definitely.
Doesn't make sense, man. The Helanus fight, he was like moving back and he went like that.
Yeah.
And that dude just shut off.
He blessed with dynamite in that right hand.
Like nobody before.
Nobody.
Like nobody. In the history of the heavyweight division, we have some giant punchers, Ernie Shavers, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, but I put Deontay at the top of the heap.
Right. Hey, I don't know. I don't know, man, because those guys, you know what I mean, they was tough as snails back in the days. Yeah. But I think Deontay Wilder, man, he hit you a couple of times with that right hand.
Yeah. If you ain't Tyson Fury, you going to sleep.
Right. He's the only dude. He's the only dude. The first fight was bananas. Yeah.
When he catches him with that right hand and the left hook as he's going down, then Deontay goes like this, and he thought it was over. And this motherfucker rises like the Undertaker. Yes. Just got, I was like, there is no way. There's no way.
And then he starts outboxing him. Like how?
He beat him last, I mean, I thought he came back and won the rest of the round.
I think he did. Yeah. And then he took that strategy into the second fight. He realized that Deontay does not fight as well when you're going after him. And so then he just dominates the second fight, dominates the third.
But in the third, when he got rocked once so hard, you could watch the ripple, the shock wave, go down his body, and it was jiggling his fat, jiggling his back fat from the shot, just boom. I don't think there's another person in the heavyweight division that would have ate that shot like Tyson did.
I think I told everybody, both fighters won that fight, the first fight. I said because Tyson Fury, I don't know if he made the count, but any other fighter, you get dropped like that, they was going to call it off. Right. Because dude literally, boom. Yeah.
Looked up, and it was just like, any other fighter, they would have counted out. And I feel like Tyson Fury won on points. Yeah. He was winning the fight. He got up, still winning.
Second fight, Tyson Fury hands down. But the third fight, Deontay Wilder could have made it a better, interesting fight, but he got tired. He was working real well, but he got tired. But Tyson Fury's smart. He started putting that weight on him, started laying on him.
He's incredible.
That's the experience, you know what I mean? He's incredible.
And he's such a character, too. Such a fun dude.
Yeah, he's funny.
He's so funny. He got so mad at me because I said John Jones would fuck him up.
In the octagon, yeah.
Yeah, I said in a fight, in a fight fight. He's like, no man would beat me. Lock me in a room with any man, and I'm coming out alive.
No, John, he's a dangerous dude, man. Y'all, better leave him alone.
Leave him alone. Yeah. Well, listen, I believe firmly that if Tyson Fury learned wrestling and learned Muay Thai when he was younger, just like John did, he would be a world champion. Yeah, but he ain't beating John. He's not beating John now.
No, no, no, no. No one's beating John.
Even if he was to train when he was little, he's still not beating John Jones.
He'd have to be a great wrestler, too. The thing about John is he can do everything.
Everything. He can do everything.
And he's the most – he has the highest octagon IQ. He's the best at, like, implementing his strategy and utilizing his reach and just figuring out how to get a hold of you.
He's the best. He's going to find a way to win. Yeah. He's my guy.
He's amazing. He's amazing. But, like, when it comes to heavyweight boxers, Tyson Fury is one of my all-time greats. I have two favorite all-time fighters, Mike Tyson in his prime, which was just like a cultural phenomenon.
Yeah.
Like when you would watch Mike Tyson fights back in the day, they were executions. Right. Like. you were just paying, and you were hoping it lasted a little because you're paying for the pay-per-view. Like, I hope he doesn't knock this guy out in 10 seconds.
So you wanted to see something.
And it was literally like two rounds, one round.
It was amazing. People forget, like, when you see him in his prime, when he was bobbing and weaving. I was talking to the guys last night at the comedy club, and I was talking about the Marvis Frazier fight. And that, to me, is the most terrifying version of Mike Tyson, because Marvis Frazier really didn't have a chance. His father was propping him up.
His father wanted him to fight Tyson, because, you know, Joe Frazier would have wanted to fight Tyson when he was in his prime. He's like, I'm going to get my son out there and do it. And Tyson just came out, guns blazing. This was Tyson before he won the title. 24 wins, zero losses, 22 knockouts, and a heavyweight like nobody had ever seen before.
Moved like a lightweight. The way he was bobbing and weaving and coming in close, he was so fast.
Yeah.
But his punches were just ridiculous angles and accuracy. I fucking love this fight.
Yeah, nobody was like it, especially in the heavyweight division.
No, it was a totally different thing.
You see him, set up the uppercut. He paw, paw, paw with that jab, and boom.
It was incredible. In his prime, I feel like I would have loved to see him against any of the greats, any of the greats. Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, any of the greats. I would have loved to have seen Tyson in his prime against those guys.
Yeah, if they could take a punch, then it would be interesting. The punches come so fast.
The thing about Tyson, too, is the speed.
Yeah, that's what I said. They could take a punch. The speed was insane. Because he get hit. Tyson got hit a lot.
Yeah. It's just that he's willing to take a hit to get his powerful hit off.
Well, he also had that neck that started at the top of his ears. His neck started up here, man.
Yeah.
It was a crazy neck, man. He could take a punch. better than anybody. Better than anybody.
Let me ask you a question. Okay. What you think about the business side of MMA and boxing?
In what way?
In the way of the fighters not getting what they deserve.
In MMA?
In boxing.
Well, you know, it's tricky, right? Like this whole thing with you and Spence, like trying to negotiate a proper contract. You know, there's a lot of vultures. There's a lot of weasels. The one good thing about the UFC is that there's one organization that controls it.
The one bad thing about the UFC is that there's one organization that controls it. So you got good and bad. So, like, if I was a manager of a fighter, I would want fighters like your career, where you're tested and you're facing ever-increasing challenges, but it's calculated. It's calculated, and you get lessons from each fight, and then you build up to a point where you're ready to challenge for a title. Like, Jon Jones fought for the title when he was 22..
I mean, it was a last-minute fight. Rashad Evans got hurt, and Jon Jones went in to fight Shogun. Jon was just so fucking talented, so above everybody else, that he dominated that fight and walked away the world champion and destroyed Shogun. He opened up the fight with a flying knee. 22 years old, first title fight, opens up with a flying knee.
Who the fuck does that? Nobody does it. Everybody would be nervous. Everybody would be, Jon's just so loose and creative in there. But in MMA, a lot of times fighters get fights they're really not ready for.
And they have to take the fight.
I'm not talking about that aspect of it. I'm talking about the business side of it.
Well, the business side, it speaks to that as well, because for a fighter to get to a point where they're undefeated and they have a big name, then they start getting the big money, and then they're the headline of the card. I think there's a lot of good in that. There's a lot of good in preparing a fighter properly. You see a lot of fighters, when they fight for a title, they might have 16-1, 16-0.. People like undefeated records.
It's very rare that a UFC fighter gets all the way to a title fight without some losses. And I think that also speaks to the style differences, the wrestling, the kickbox, all the different things that you might face inside the octagon, and having to prepare for that.
That's one thing I like about MMA.
Those guys, they're still great fighters. They still get praise, even though they probably got five losses. One loss. don't define how great they are compared to boxing.
Look how the media and how people are bashing Errol Spence. He's not great. Just because he lost to an all-time great fighter and myself,
that's all the fighters that I done fought. Once I fight him and I dismantle him, they say, oh, well, those guys are weak. Those guys are not great fighters. Those guys are tomato cans. They washed up.
They bombs. I'm like, dang, how can you disrespect this man? And he didn't work his ass off to get to the level that he is. Undefeated. Even be able to challenge me.
Can I just be that good? Why they got to be bombs? Why they got to be tomato cans?
Isn't that there's a lot of noise, though? There's a lot of people that their opinions are stupid. There's a lot of people. their opinions suck.
But if you looked at my whole career, that's what was always said. Terrence Crawford, I haven't fought anybody. Terrence Crawford only fought washed fighters. Terrence Crawford this. Terrence Crawford that.
But now, after the Spence, that's what I said.
They have to shut the fuck up. That's what I said. But don't listen to those people. Like, listen to Andre Ward.
No, they motivate me.
You know what I'm saying? Oh, they do.
They motivate me. Okay.
You're like David Goggins. Yeah, I want to see it. I want to hear it. I want to see it because, you know, that lights that fuel. Right.
And then I just grit my teeth and be like.
Well, one of the most crazy stories about your career is your mom. It's about how your mom never gave you any praise. It's like, nope, not good enough.
She was tough. She was tough. You know what I mean? I love my mom to death. That's my heart.
That's my girl. You know what I mean? But that was just her way of pushing me to be great. You know what I mean? And she just knew that her son was so competitive.
She was just like, all right. Let me see how competitive you is. Come here, little kid.
She would pay people to try to beat you up.
Yeah. Well, we have gloves. We have gloves, you know, because I come from a. My family was all into boxing. My dad's side of the family.
My mom's side of the family. So she was always tough. So she would get the little kids in the neighborhood, fight us if they can win. We would be in the front yard. And, you know, I beat them all up.
I beat them all up. I'd be like, now what? You give me the money.
You know? It's amazing how it worked. I mean, it's not something like I think a psychologist would recommend for raising a child.
Right.
But sometimes they're wrong. You know? And it depends on the person, whether they can rise to that challenge. And obviously it made you great.
Yeah, I think that's why I said, you know, I love to hear the doubters, the naysayers, because I think it's something in me from my past trauma with my mom. You know, me trying to prove her wrong. You know, me fighting for her, you know, approval. So, you know, it goes back to when I was a kid, when, you know, she would say, oh, man, you ain't going to win it. And I'd go out there and win.
And I'd come back with the belt. And she's taking pictures with the belt. Look what my son got. Look what my son did. You know what I mean?
But then, you know, when it's just me and her, you still ain't shit. You know what I mean? So I laugh and stuff like that.
That's amazing. Yeah.
So it was just, you know, my mom knew what she was doing for me at a young age. She was instilling, you know, mentally toughness, because, you know, through anything that's going on in my life, I'm always focused, no matter what it is. It can be a loud room full of people. It can be 50 people in a room, and I could be fighting the next day. And the average person would be like, man, what is you doing, dude?
You got a big fight tomorrow. Like, you need to be focusing. You need to be resting. They need to be out the room. You know, I'd be sitting there.
I'd be like, I'm good. I'm not doing nothing. They just sitting here talking. What's wrong with that? Because I'm so locked in because once I'm focused on something, that's not going to distract me.
And I think that comes from my upbringing as well.
Have you ever worked with a sports psychologist or anything? Nah. Nothing.
But I used to have to see counselors and stuff like that when I was little.
If you get in trouble. Huh? If you get in trouble.
No, I used to get in trouble. I used to have an anger problem. I used to be mad at the world. And I always tell people, I don't know why I was so mad. But then, as I got older, I realized that, you know, my dad was gone.
And I wanted my dad to be there. Yeah. And, like, my mom, like, everything, you know, I do wrong, I was getting whooped before. So it was like, that's all I know. You say something I don't like, I'm whooping your ass.
You do something I don't like, I'm whooping your ass. So it was just like, everything that I was getting at home for getting in trouble, when I go out into the real world, I was, you know, doing the same thing that my mom was doing to me. when I get in trouble or say something or do something that she don't like. I was getting whooping for it, you know. You're not listening.
So I'd be like, dude, shut up talking to me. And you still talking to me, you're not listening. Now we got to fight. I got to beat your ass, because now you're not listening. Now you're going to piss me off.
So, you know, I used to get in trouble a lot. I used to get in trouble a lot.
Well, it seems like with all great fighters, they've overcome some serious problems when they're young. Yeah. Like every great fighter. It's very rare that you have a great fighter that had this, like, perfect upbringing, where nothing ever went wrong. Everything was fine.
Got everything they wanted, anything they needed. You know, it seems like every fighter has to come. They have to overcome people downing them, people dismissing them. They have to overcome that.
Oh, yeah, definitely. From school to everywhere, you know. A lot of people, I don't think nobody, but my family members thought that I was going to turn out to be the guy that I am today. Like when I see people that knew me when I was little, they just, you know, like they just want to cry. They're just like, what?
I just can't believe how of a man you've grown into. I would have never believed this would be you. Like, you talk so well. You ain't in trouble. You're doing things for the community.
I'm just in disbelief. Like, I'm just so proud of you. And I just be like, thank you. Because nobody thought that I would turn out to be who I am today, you know. And it just goes to show that it don't matter how you started.
It always matters how you finish.
Well, it's also your composure. You know, you have this ability. Like, you can talk shit in the middle of a fight to someone who's sitting ringside. It's kind of amazing. You're just always composed.
I think it's because you've overcome all that shit. But because your mind is centered. It's even when we were talking about cars earlier, when I was showing you the Barracuda. You're like, I don't drive any of my cars. I drive my truck.
Listen, all these cool cars you have, you. just stay low key. Stay low key and keep it together. Stay composed.
I got to. That's just me, you know. I never want to be nothing other than myself. Like, I remember my family members, you know, a couple of my friends. They're like, man, you need to talk more shit.
You need to be like Mayweather. You need to do this. You need to do that. I'm like, no, I don't. I said, that's him.
That's not me. I mean, you see Tank now. You see all these fighters, you know, Broner now. You see, that's how you get the money. That's how you get the money.
You got to entertain. You got to show the money. You got to do this. I'm going to be myself. And I thrived on that, you know, because when it's all said and done, when all the money gone, when all the fans done chanting your name, now who you really is.
Now, you got to search and find the real you. But if the real you been there all along, you're going to be happy. You ain't going to have to, you know, go through therapy. You ain't going to have to be buying friends. You ain't going to be having to stay in the sport to hear that chant again.
So when you walk away from the sport, you're going to walk away from the sport as a man with your head high, and you're just going to wave. Yeah.
That's beautiful.
Yeah, definitely.
Well, you have a rock-solid philosophy. I love that. It's one of the things I really admire about Andre Ward. Andre Ward, Olympic gold medalist, two-division world champion, retires undefeated. He's like, I'm gone.
That's good. All my faculty is completely intact. And they even offered him a big-money fight against Canelo after he beat Kovalev. After he knocked out Kovalev, they offered money to Andre, a lot of money. And he's like, I think I better surf boxing as a commentator.
Which is amazing for a guy who's still in his physical prime. I mean, there's video footage of him working out, still in tip-top condition. Looks fantastic.
Yeah, he had a lot of injuries, though.
Yeah, the shoulder.
And the knee.
The knee was big, but the shoulder. I mean, he's a one-armed fighter for most of his career, which is so incredible. He beat everybody with a left hand. Everybody. Went through the whole Super Six tournament.
Great.
Beat everybody with a left hand.
Great.
Yeah. And then finally got it fixed and fucked Kovalev up in the rematch with a right hand.
Right.
It's crazy.
I always said I wanted to retire from boxing. I never wanted boxing to retire me.
My goal was always to retire at 33..
33?.
33..
Is it because the fights didn't come?
No. Even before that.
But why did you decide to keep going?
I don't know. It's just like my body was, just like, man, you ain't done. You know what I mean? Even though I wanted to retire, it was just like, you're not done. You got a lot to prove.
You got a lot to accomplish. You're still in your prime. So it's like, all right, keep going. Because I wanted that mega fight. I wanted that big fight to where it's like no denying who Terrence Crawford is.
Or what he stood for. Or the family man he was. I wanted the people still to know who Terrence Crawford was. And I felt like there was people that knew who I was and that followed me. But it wasn't solidified worldwide yet.
But look, now, even that it is, you still want the next challenge.
Nah, I really don't have nothing to prove. I can walk away right now. And I constantly played on that. I do that every day. I wake up.
Do I still want to box? Do I still want to box? Because I don't need to box, because I done great with my money. I invested great with my money. I got a lot of great businesses.
I got a lot of great things that I'm doing. So that generate money. So I don't need boxing. I'm doing this for legacy. So if it's not, that's why I said if Charlo move up in weight and they strip him for his belt, there's no need for me and Charlo to fight because he's not undisputed.
You yelled at him from the ring. Of course. You're next. Of course.
I've been saying that for years. I said I'm going to whoop Spence. Then I'm going to whoop you. And I meant it. But yeah, if he's not undisputed, then that fight don't, I don't know.
It's not interesting to me, no more, because I'm trying to make all time history.
If the Canelo fight come to fruition, then that's a fight that I'd be willing to take just off the wrist. To be one of the all time greats.
That's a fight.
That's the one that gets you going. I can see it in your eyes.
Yeah. Yeah. That's a fight because of the challenge. I love the challenges. And I love the people that I hear them.
now. You're too little.
Canelo going to break you. He's going to stop you. You come from 147.. That weight too big. This and that.
I can hear it now. And that just excites me to go in there and just be like, okay, let me prove them wrong once again.
That fight would be gigantic. If Canelo gets through Jermell and then you guys fight, that fight would be gigantic.
And it's crazy, because in the past interviews, I was like, man, Canelo too big, man. His weight class is for a reason. I was like, no. But in my mind, in my heart, I don't think nobody too big, especially in a fight. I'm a fighter.
But I was thinking like, man, it could happen. So you start really sitting down like, man, that fight maybe can happen. Okay, so now you start sizing them up. You be like, all right. He 5'8".
I'm 5'8". My arms longer than his. He bigger than me. But I'm faster. So then you start doing the advantages.
You know what I mean? Like, man, we right there. We right there. You know what I mean? So I was like, man.
And it's not like he didn't go up in weight as well.
Yeah, yeah. So that's why I was like, man, that's a fight.
And it's the same kind of fighter too, because that's why he went up and fought Bival. That's why he fought Kovalev. He won that challenge for him to go up from junior middleweight all the way up to light heavyweight and win the title.
Definitely.
But going up and becoming undisputed against Canelo, whoo! Whoo! Come on, man. I'm flying in the sunset, man. Thank you, boxing gods.
That would be it? That would be it. Yeah. That's the only thing he can get for me. I didn't accomplish everything there is to accomplish in the sport of boxing.
You know, there's really nothing for me to accomplish right now. Like anything. It's about the money. now. It's about the money.
You know, I'm not going to sit here and say it's not. But the money and to beat Canelo? If that fight was ever to happen? Man. Come on, man.
Y'all better leave me alone.
Better leave me alone, man. Call me, you know what I mean, TBC, man. Yeah. Yeah, man. That's what I've been thinking about.
I don't know why. You know, it's just like, man. The last few days, I was like, man. I don't know if it's God talking to me or what. But that's a fight that if he win, if Canelo win, then yeah, I'm going to try to pursue that.
I love that. I love that mentality.
I do.
I love it. I love it. Because that's where it's at. That's what makes all-time greats.
Yeah.
It's like you have to have that mountain to climb.
But nobody went up. I don't think nobody went up. three weight classes.
Well, didn't Roy? Roy started 160..
No, I'm saying at once.
Right.
You know what I mean, from 147 to 168..
No, the closest to that is when Canelo went up 68 to 75, starting at 54.. Yeah.
No, not starting. I'm saying I started at 135.. Right. That's true. That's true.
You know what I mean? I'm just saying, like, say, if Canelo was the champion at 147, to go up 168.. Right. Right.
Right. Right in one jump.
Yeah, in one jump.
It's a big jump, too. 21 pounds. It's a lot of weight.
It's a lot of weight. Yeah, that's exciting. I spar big guys, though. Do you? Yeah, I spar big guys.
That's why I'm, like, I'm starting thinking, like, man,
I don't know. I probably can be great. I probably can be great. You know what I mean? But, you know, it's different in the fight, but I believe in my skills and my ability, and I believe in my team.
I believe we'll come up with something that, you know, will be suitable for me to be successful in that fight.
That would probably be the biggest fighting box.
Definitely.
That fight would be gigantic.
It would.
That would be a big one. I have to go to that one. That one happens.
I got to go there live. You were supposed to go to this last one.
I couldn't. That was at the UFC.
I wanted to go. It's crazy how they had it on the same day.
Yeah, it sucked.
But it was good, because my fight was early. Then your fight was later on that night, so.
I didn't. Unfortunately, somebody spoiled it for me.
Oh, they did? Yeah, they spoiled it for me.
Then I said, all right, let me watch the highlights.
Yeah.
I just watched the highlights on my phone. I was like, oh, shit.
Yeah.
Then I got home and watched the whole fight on the big screen. That's what's up. That's what's up. I actually got Paramount Plus just for you.
Yeah.
So I could watch it. Hey. You couldn't watch it anywhere else after it was already aired.
I appreciate it.
It was magnificent, man. I just, I love excellence. I love when someone just rises to the top of a shark infested pool, because that's what boxing is, you know, and when you're at your level, and when you can perform that way against a guy like Errol Spence, against a guy who's an undefeated, you know, elite champion, and for you to perform that way. That's just what, to me, this is what boxing is all about. When one person shows that there are levels upon, levels upon, levels upon.
levels. Yeah.
You know, and then it puts you in this category where people go, okay, well, what other champions can move around in weight classes or go up or come down? Like, you know, there's, I know there's been a lot of discussion about different people from different weight classes coming up to you. Is there anything else that's interesting to you other than Canelo or Jermel?
Nah.
Nothing.
Nope.
You just need like dragons to slay. You know what I mean? Like at this point in your life, you can't even fight a regular fighter.
Yeah. Like, I don't know. Like I get excited. I don't know why. I get excited when I talk about Canelo.
Like I used to get excited about Pacquiao.
Really?
You know, I used to get so excited. Like, man, I'm going to be able to fight Pacquiao. You know, because.
Is that the one you think? got away?
Yeah, it definitely did. It definitely did. I tried my ass off.
What stopped that fight from happening?
They didn't want to fight. It's too dangerous. They didn't want to fight. Freddie Roach said he didn't want to fight.
Pacquiao handlers didn't want to fight. You know, I believe Pacquiao, as a fighter, he wanted to fight, but they didn't want to fight for him. So, you know, it just got away. Looking back at like Floyd career, like him coming up in the era that he came up in, he had all them champions that he was able to fight. And that's what led him to be so great, you know, because he fought the most champions, beat the most champions, you know, got the most money for beating the most champions.
So it was just like, man, he had this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, back to back to fight one after one.
And when I was coming at the peak of my career, they all retired. You know what I mean? So it's like, I can't get these guys name on my resume. You know what I mean? So it was just like, you know, now I'm the old guy in the era, you know, that the young guys want to try to get a piece, to build a legacy and put names on a resume.
And it's just going to keep history going, to keep repeating itself.
Yeah, there's always going to be a new guy coming up. And there's like right now. you got Booth Tennants in your weight class.
Definitely.
What do you think about him?
Oh, he's very, very talented. He's unproven, but he's very talented. You know, the eye test tells it all. You know, he's got the it, you know, but we haven't seen him against any elite fighter. We've never seen him tested.
So until then, you know, we just going to keep saying Booth, Booth, Booth, until we meet that fighter that's going to test him.
Is he the mandatory?
Yeah, I probably got like three mandatory. Really? All right. Four belts. Yeah.
Is that a fight that you would be interested in?
Nah. It just don't make sense right now in my career. Like I said, like, especially money wise. Don't nobody really know Booth, but us. Right.
You know, I'm looking for bigger and better challenges, like Canelo.
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