“He Was Sparring Like a Heavyweight Fighter”: Amidst Talks of Terence Crawford Moving Up in Weight Class, Shakur Stevenson Makes Big Claim About Bud’s Punching Power

Ahead of Jermell Charlo vs. Canelo Alvarez, then undisputed Welterweight champion Terence Crawford said he could potentially reach the Super Middleweight division and compete. Undoubtedly, it is a matter of a great deal for a boxer who fights at 147 lbs to go above three weight classes. However, confident Crawford announced that he could potentially become an undisputed champion at 168 lbs too.

In this context, ‘Bud’ even declared that he would like to face Canelo Alvarez in “the biggest fight in boxing.” At this, while there were talks of Crawford moving up to 168 lbs following his rematch with Errol Spence Jr., Shakur Stevenson revealed that ‘Bud’ sparred heavyweight fighters in the gym. Besides praising Crawford’s power, here is what Shakur said.

Terence Crawford wobbled a heavyweight boxer, according to Shakur Stevenson

In a recent interview with ES NEWS, Shakur described his training experiences with Crawford. On being asked how powerful Crawford is, Stevenson, who wishes to face Naoya Inoue, exclaimed Crawford was “strong as s**t.” In this context, he recounted the time ‘Bud’ sparred with a heavyweight fighter inside the gym. Although Shakur was initially scared of ‘Bud’ getting injured, the latter shocked him with his abilities.

“I gotta tell this story I said before. But, I’ll say it again. I was in the gym, I was getting ready. And he was sparring like a heavyweight fighter. I’m nervous for him. I’m like, ‘Why he’s in the ring with this big old dude?‘,” said Shakur. “Man, I swear he caught this dude with a boom. [He was] wobbling all around the ring. And I’m like, ‘What the f**k!‘,” he added.

In addition, the southpaw boxer felt people underestimated Crawford’s power. “Honestly, ‘Bud’ is very strong. A lot of people don’t realize how strong he is as a fighter. His punching power could carry through the weight classes,” the 26-year-old proudly added. At this, while Shakur praised Crawford, it is worth mentioning that Crawford just lost his undisputed status at 147 lbs.

Crawford stripped of the IBF belt ahead of Spence Jr. rematch

As per the latest updates, IBF has stripped Crawford of his IBF Welterweight belt. Since Crawford could not negotiate with Jaron Ennis by September 24, a mandatory fight assigned by the IBF, ‘Bud’ lost the IBF title he won against Spence Jr. in July. After ‘The Truth’ exercised the rematch clause in their contract, ‘Bud’ had to refuse the fight against Ennis. As a result, Ennis is now the new IBF Welterweight champion in the sport.

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Hopefully, Crawford will shine in his rematch against Spence Jr. and then fight Ennis to regain the IBF title he lost. Anyway, do you think Crawford should move up to the 168 lbs division? In addition, what do you make of Shakur’s faith in ‘Bud’? Let us know in the comments.

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