An unbeaten world champion has made a shock claim about a past sparring session with pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford.
‘Bud’ Crawford has proved himself to be one of the greatest fighters to have ever graced the sport over the last decade, with the 38-year-old from Omaha already winning world titles at five weight classes since he entered the paid ranks back in 2008, ranging from lightweight to super-middleweight.
Crawford etched his name into the boxing history books last month when he dethroned Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez of his undisputed super-middleweight championship, becoming the first male fighter to become undisputed in three separate divisions.
As ‘Bud’ enters the final chapter of his glittering career, one man that will be looking to step into his shoes in years to come is reigning WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr, who has emerged as one of the most exciting fighters in boxing.
In an interview with Sean Zittel, Norman shared details of a sparring session that he had with ‘Bud’ back in 2021, as he claims there were ‘a lot of similarities’ between himself and the pound-for-pound great.
“I see a lot of similarities between me & him … Why can’t I be as great as Terence Crawford? The sparring session, I will confirm what happened: We were going back and forth. I’m talking about a head-to-head, even match.”
Norman is set to make the third defence of his WBO welterweight title next month against countryman Devin Haney next month. The all-American welterweight showdown will take place on Saturday November 22 at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.