American megastar Terence Crawford has confirmed he is wagering a $10,000 bet on Tim Tszyu to lose his hyped blockbuster with Errol Spence Jnr – and right after the pair compared gruesome dog bite stories.
On the eve of Tszyu’s Easter Sunday showdown against Denis Nurja, Crawford has made a surprise visit to the former world champion’s Sydney gym, with the pair then chatting for over 30 minutes on all sorts of topics.
Tszyu vs Nurja | Sunday 5 April from 11am AEST | Tim Tszyu looks to continue his boxing resurgence as he takes on the undefeated Denis Nurja, in a gamble before his looming showdown with Errol Spence Jnr. | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.
Apart from discussing fishing, basketball and bloody canine bites, Crawford also suggested Tszyu should have beaten Bakhram Murtazaliev for the IBF super welterweight crown.
One of the world’s greatest fighters also offered Tszyu tips on diet, movie choices, even a US snack treat called Little Debbies, while also recounting moments from his own career and the one great regret that was never facing Manny Pacquiao.
With a laugh, Crawford also offered to one day challenge ‘The Phoenix’ to a game of basketball, declaring: “I beat Tim’s ass”.
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Incredibly, it has now been two years since Fox Sports Australia first revealed talks were underway for a proposed $40 million blockbuster between Crawford and Tszyu, with the Australian at that time undefeated and WBO super welterweight king.
However, negotiations quickly stopped after Tszyu lost to Sebastian Fundora, and then Bakhram Murtazaliev, as part of a rollercoaster couple of years of which he is now readying to rise out of.
Speaking with Australia’s Main Event after their meeting, Crawford smiled and said while those old discussions never came up, Tszyu was right to favour himself in a fight between the pair.
Asked about their conversation inside the Tszyu family gym, Crawford said: “He had a few questions and I had a few answers.
“We didn’t talk about fighting each other, but boxing is boxing.
“He should have the confidence that if he got in the ring with me he would’ve been victorious. Same as I’ve got the confidence in myself that it would’ve gone the other way.”
Tszyu reacts to Crawford tipping Spence! | 02:00
Crawford then added that he had “a wager” going with Australian boxing identity Grant ‘Tassie’ Brown on the impending Tszyu/Spence showdown, which is set for July or August so long as the Aussie wins Sunday.
Only recently, Brown revealed to Code Sports he had $10K ready to bet on Tszyu, with ‘Bud’ confirming on Wednesday a bet is on.
But as for being confident of winning big?
“I’m not 100 per cent confident,” Crawford conceded.
“But I know the calibre of fighter Errol is. Same as I know the calibre of Tim.
“I think both of them have taken a lot of damage in their career so far. But I think Errol, skill wise, edges him.”
Yet as for a Tszyu win over Spence being enough to bring him out of retirement?
“Nah, it’s over,” he grinned. “I just wish him well. Much respect. And I’m looking forward to see what he does with his future.”
Tszyu, meanwhile, described the experience between the pair as “cool”.
“He’s a good bloke,” Tszyu said. “Down to earth. Hasn’t let fame and fortune get in the way of life. It’s a great example.”
And as for the fact he is betting against you?
“That’s alright,” Tszyu grinned. “You need it 50/50. You need people to say this guy [wins], and people to say ‘no, this guy’. That’s what makes me and Spence so interesting. It could go either way.”
At one point during there conversation, Crawford brought up Tszyu’s first bloody loss to Fundora.
“They should’ve stopped that fight,” Crawford said of Team Tszyu.“That was bad coaching. I think [Tszyu] would’ve been better off had they stopped it and let him go back a second time. Rather than taking that punishment.
“They shouldn’t have sent him out there with Bakhram in the next fight. The wrong game plan, too.”
At which point someone mentioned Josh Kelly’s January win over Murtazaliev.
“Yeah, f***ed him up,” Crawford said. “And he [Tszyu] was capable of doing the same thing. It was just the wrong game plan.”
Elsewhere, the most entertaining exchange between the pair came when Tszyu was trying to explain how, only weeks out from fighting Carlos Ocampo, he required surgery on his arm after being mauled by a pitbull.
“How you get bit by a pitbull,” Crawford asked, to which Tszyu then went into the whole backyard BBQ thing.
Crawford: “So what happened to the dog?”
Tszyu: “I think they put it down. It was very aggressive”.
Crawford: “You didn’t put it down?”
Tszyu. “Nah”.
Crawford: “Why?’”
Now here, someone explained the dog belonged to a friend.
Crawford: “I woulda choked that dog to the light. That woulda been a dead dog.”
Then after a slight pause, and to the surprise of everyone present, Crawford said he too had been bit by a dog.
“No way,” Tszyu replied.
Which is how right there inside the Tszyu Fight Club, Crawford pulled back the t-shirt sleeve on his right arm to show a scar.
Tszyu & Crawford share unfiltered chat | 03:57
“I was young,” he started. “Probably nine years old.
“It was my fault too because I used to tease the dog. I went into my friend’s house to fill up some water guns and the dog opened the door. So me and the dog were looking at each other like this (stares ahead), and I took off … [my friend] he’s crying, I’m crying, he’s screaming, I’m screaming. I’m like ‘get your dog!’.
“I’m running around and as I’m trying to block, the dog chomped on me. I’m so scared. The dog is scratching me on the back. Bite marks. Then the mum grabs the dog, and I come outside like ‘f***’. I’m so scared. I said to my friend ‘why didn’t you grab the dog?’. Then his brother looked at me and said ‘Bud your arm’.
“I’m still trying to catch my breath and said ‘what?’. I looked and all you could see was blood coming out. I started screaming, crying and ran home. Them dogs ain’t no joke.”
Initially, and shortly after Crawford and a small entourage had initially walked up to the second-storey gym area, Tszyu had kicked things off by asking Crawford if he liked to fish, before then declaring: “You’re a big boy, bro. How did you make super lightweight? You started at super lightweight, yeah …”
Crawford: “Lightweight.”
Tszyu: “Lightweight? Ah, undisputed super lightweight, welterweight, then super middleweight.”
Next up, diet.
Tszyu: “You ate a lot of seafood right? Don’t eat a lot of meat.”
Crawford: “I eat chicken and turkey but not beef or pork. It’s just bad for you”.
Tszyu: “I’ve been similar this camp. Cut out my meat for about eight weeks. You just feel lighter, leaner, you wake up in the morning and feel good. What about sugar?”
Crawford: “That’s my kryptonite. I eat too much candy and snacks.”
Tszyu: “Not during camp, yeah.”
Crawford: “Yeah.”
“I wish man,” added Tszyu, with the pair then drifting into the topic of ice cream and some US snack known as Little Debbies.
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At another point, talk turned to Crawford’s own win over Spence.
Tszyu: “I’ve watched that fight over and over again man. I just saw how focused you were. It was so nice to see. You eliminated all distractions. How did you get into that zone?”
Crawford: “Because it was the moment. A big moment. And I wasn’t going to let it get away.”
Tszyu: “Did you practice certain things in that camp.”
Crawford: “Nah, we knew what to expect. Like in the Canelo fight, we knew what to expect. Me personally, I’ll never go in there like ‘ah, let’s practice and do this, let’s train for this’ …. because no fighter is ever going to fight me the same way they fought their previous opponents. So I just go in there practicing the things I need to work on. Then when it comes fight time I know what I’ve got to do.”
Tszyu: “What was your hardest fight?”
Crawford: “Probably Gamboa.”
“Gamboa, your boy,” Tszyu grinning, nodding to his new Cuban trainer Pedro Diaz, who was stood alongside the pair and helped make Gamboa an Olympic star.
Crawford: “A lot of people say Israil Madrimov but he was just awkward.”
Tszyu: “What made Gamboa hard?”
Crawford: “I just had to figure him out. Everything.”
Tszyu: “That was your big fight as well, right? I think that was the first fight I watched.”
Crawford: “That dude was darting in. Like boom, boom, boom. I was ‘f***’.
Tszyu: “You kept lighting him up’.”
Crawford: “Yeah, but at the beginning, I had to figure him out. And even when I was figuring him out I was getting caught a bit. It was a puzzle. I had to stay focused. I stopped him in round nine, same round he hurt me. That’s the only fight I ever been …”
Tszyu: “Hurt?”
Crawford: “Yeah.”
Tszyu: “In what way?”
Crawford: “[Smiles] Like … boom! I was like ‘damn’. My legs locked up. I was like, what the f*** was that? It was me getting over confident. Walked into a shot I didn’t see and paid for it.”
Soon after, talk turned to basketball and the fact Tszyu can play more than a little
“I beat Tim’s ass,” Crawford cackled.
Cue some b-ball discussion.
“I can really play though,” Crawford eventually interjected. “I used to play …”
But can you dunk?
Crawford shook his head, saying: “I can shoot.
“I used to play in training camp. Play all the time. But my coaches used to get angry saying ‘you gunna f*** around and get hurt, twist in ankle, jam a finger … you need to stop that s***’.”
At which point, someone mentioned a dog bite…
Find out more about Terence Crawford’s ‘Victory Lap’ Australia tour here.
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