Fight Like Terence Crawford: Terence “Bud” Crawford is elevated to the status of a boxing celebrity as a result of his recent victory over Errol Spence. Terence Crawford is a competent and cunning fighter, and regardless of the fighting sport they favour, every fighter can gain from his mastery of boxing. He is one of the rare fighters who is skilled in both stances and has the ring IQ to adjust to any challenger. Here are five tips on how to fight like Terence Crawford.
How To Fight Like Terence Crawford?
1) Trained Jab
Every elite fighter knows the importance of the jab, and Terence Crawford is no different. Crawford has a highly skilled jab that he can use as a rangefinder, paw to unlock doors, and even land with enough force to harm an opponent. Crawford has a good jab from both the orthodox and southpaw stances if that weren’t enough. Because of this, it is highly challenging for an adversary to build their own jab, which stifles the game of the majority of boxers. His capacity to change stances allows him to neutralise the jab of even opponents who possess a proficient jab of their own. He battled Ricky Burns, for instance, as an illustration of this.
Burns often jabbed Crawford throughout the opening frame. After quickly adjusting to the southpaw posture, Crawford was able to eliminate the angle and create space for the orthodox jab to land, winning the fight via unanimous decision. By launching a strong jab as Errol Spence closed the distance, Crawford even succeeded in ending the fight.
You might also be interested in reading this: What is Shoeshine in Boxing? How To Do It?
2) Changing Positions
Any boxer has a wide range of offensive and defensive options when they can change stances. It has generally been discouraged since learning two postures takes a lot more time than staying with one. Switching stances can help a boxer close the distance between them and their opponent more quickly, create angles for either offence or defence, or even respond to an opponent taking a dominant angle. Another way to stop an opponent from learning your patterns and counterpunching is to change your posture while you punch. One instance of this was when Crawford competed against Olympic gold medalist and three-division world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa. Gamboa’s opponents frequently struggled to deal with him because of his evasive mobility and quick hands.
Early in the bout, Crawford started switching stances, and he kept switching between orthodox and southpaw throughout. Crawford landed a stunning right uppercut on Gamboa in round nine as he reverted to a southpaw posture after taking a step backwards. Gamboa was unable to use his inherent abilities to prevail in this battle due to the continual swapping.
Crawford made the deliberate decision to fight as a southpaw when he challenged Errol Spence for the undisputed welterweight world championship in order to thwart Spence’s strategy. According to Crawford, Spence didn’t fight many southpaws and struggled with the ones he did. One of the things that made it possible for Crawford to completely control the battle and claim victory was his switch from an orthodox to a southpaw stance. A closed stance matchup is simple for switch hitters to take advantage of since there are fewer southpaws and southpaws frequently have less experience facing other southpaws.
3) Punching Strength
One of the distinguishing features of Crawford’s boxing technique is the spectacular knockouts that arise from his punching strength. Crawford is exceptional because he is strong in both hands and from both positions. Not everyone can equal Crawford’s level of power, but everyone can exercise having power in both hands and from both postures. Naturally, left-handed persons should practise their hitting force more than right-handed ones, and vice versa. Although shadowboxing is a great method for doing this, you should use a heavy bag or mitts to fully improve your punching power.
Although Terence Crawford is naturally right-handed, he has developed striking power in his left hand as well. His battle with Shawn Porter serves as one illustration of this. Although Porter stopped the bout with a right hook, Crawford’s left uppercut between Porter’s guard caused Porter to go down first.
4) Security
Crawford is well recognised for his attacking skills, but his defence is just as important to his ring success. Crawford skillfully dances around his opponents by using slips, weaves, shoulder rolls, and pivots together with quick footwork. In most of his battles, he moves his head a lot, which also helps him set up a lethal counterattack. Similar to the famous Pernell Whitaker, Crawford frequently slips an opponent’s shot to his right from the southpaw position, followed by a quick turnaround. Crawford employs the Philly shell defence as well, even when he is positioned as a southpaw. He has a keen sense of distance and can pivot away while deflecting blows from his opponent off of his lead shoulder or forearm.
This is especially noteworthy considering that even defensive mastermind Floyd Mayweather had trouble using the Philly shell in a battle with an open stance. Crawford can also employ a flicker jab with an upward motion, much like Tommy Hearns did to set up his chopping rear hand, thanks to his lowered lead hand from his Philly shell.
5) Fight IQ
The best trait of Terence Crawford could be his ability to think. It won’t assist you until you can really employ defensive manoeuvres, footwork patterns, and stance adjustments when you need to. Crawford has a high fight IQ, which allows him to use the right tool for the job at hand. He was able to gain the upper hand strategically, for example, by assessing Errol Spence’s advantages and limitations. He used his Southpaw fighting style as a weapon since he was aware that Spence had problems controlling the lead hand of other Southpaw fighters. The famed Cus D’amato claimed that just 10% of boxing is physical and 90% is mental. By methodically and deliberately practising certain techniques using the apps, you may raise your own fighting IQ.
These are the tips on how you can fight like Terence Crawford. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
