Errol Spence Jr. has revealed that his preparation for Terence Crawford was far from ideal, admitting his training camp was “out of whack” before the biggest defeat of his career.
Spence returns against Tim Tszyu on July 25 after almost three years away from boxing, but his latest comments have provided more insight into what went wrong before Crawford dominated him in their undisputed welterweight clash.
Speaking to Andre Ward, Spence opened up about the issues that affected his preparation before facing Crawford.
Errol Spence Details Crawford Camp Problems
Spence admitted that his preparation for Crawford was not what it needed to be.
“Like, it was just a lot of stuff that went wrong in that camp,” Spence said.
When Ward asked whether he and Derrick James had discussed what needed to happen before the fight, Spence admitted there was no clear plan in place.
“Nope,” Spence replied. “Man, that camp was bulls***.”
Spence also revealed that his sparring situation was not suitable for the challenge Crawford presented.
“Like I did no spar. Like the guys didn’t fit. I ain’t had no southpaws in there to spar or none of that.”
Despite those issues, Spence refused to remove credit from Crawford’s victory or search for excuses.
“I’m not going to make no excuses about it,” Spence said. “I’m just going to do what I do, and then whatever criticism come with it, whatever criticism come with it, bro, whatever.”
Errol Spence Admits He Was Not Ready
Spence also acknowledged that his lifestyle outside the gym contributed to the issues before Crawford.
“I was basically living wrong, bro.”
The former unified champion explained that he never felt fully prepared once camp started.
“Everything was just out of whack.”
“Just feeling weak, depleted,” Spence added. “Like even if I worked out, like I felt like I wasn’t getting stronger.”
“The whole camp it was just a whole messed-up situation.”
Spence now moves forward with Ronnie Shields in his corner for the Tszyu fight, attempting to rebuild after the most difficult period of his career.
The Australia showdown will not erase what happened against Crawford, but it will reveal whether Spence can correct the issues he believes contributed to that performance.
After everything that went wrong before Crawford, the Tszyu fight will reveal whether Spence has rebuilt the foundation needed to compete at the highest level again.
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN) and a veteran boxing reporter with 15+ years of experience. He has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside since 2010. His work is distributed across major platforms, including Apple News. Read full bio.
