Ex-NRL badboy\u2019s \u2018blunt\u2019 boxing confession… and the big fish still on his footy hitlist<\/a><\/p>\nIncredibly, 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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
Speaking with Australia\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n
Asked about their conversation inside the Tszyu family gym, Crawford said: \u201cHe had a few questions and I had a few answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t talk about fighting each other, but boxing is boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should have the confidence that if he got in the ring with me he would\u2019ve been victorious. Same as I\u2019ve got the confidence in myself that it would\u2019ve gone the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu reacts to Crawford tipping Spence! | 02:00<\/p>\n
Crawford then added that he had \u201ca wager\u201d going with Australian boxing identity Grant \u2018Tassie\u2019 Brown on the impending Tszyu\/Spence showdown, which is set for July or August so long as the Aussie wins Sunday.<\/p>\n
Only recently, Brown revealed to Code Sports he had $10K ready to bet on Tszyu, with \u2018Bud\u2019 confirming on Wednesday a bet is on. <\/p>\n
But as for being confident of winning big?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not 100 per cent confident,\u201d Crawford conceded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I know the calibre of fighter Errol is. Same as I know the calibre of Tim.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think both of them have taken a lot of damage in their career so far. But I think Errol, skill wise, edges him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet as for a Tszyu win over Spence being enough to bring him out of retirement?<\/p>\n
\u201cNah, it\u2019s over,\u201d he grinned. \u201cI just wish him well. Much respect. And I\u2019m looking forward to see what he does with his future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu, meanwhile, described the experience between the pair as \u201ccool\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good bloke,\u201d Tszyu said. \u201cDown to earth. Hasn\u2019t let fame and fortune get in the way of life. It\u2019s a great example.\u201d<\/p>\n
And as for the fact he is betting against you?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s alright,\u201d Tszyu grinned. \u201cYou need it 50\/50. You need people to say this guy [wins], and people to say \u2018no, this guy\u2019. That\u2019s what makes me and Spence so interesting. It could go either way.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one point during there conversation, Crawford brought up Tszyu\u2019s first bloody loss to Fundora.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should\u2019ve stopped that fight,\u201d Crawford said of Team Tszyu.\u201cThat was bad coaching. I think [Tszyu] would\u2019ve been better off had they stopped it and let him go back a second time. Rather than taking that punishment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey shouldn\u2019t have sent him out there with Bakhram in the next fight. The wrong game plan, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
At which point someone mentioned Josh Kelly\u2019s January win over Murtazaliev.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, f***ed him up,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cAnd he [Tszyu] was capable of doing the same thing. It was just the wrong game plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow you get bit by a pitbull,\u201d Crawford asked, to which Tszyu then went into the whole backyard BBQ thing.<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cSo what happened to the dog?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cI think they put it down. It was very aggressive\u201d.<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cYou didn\u2019t put it down?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu. \u201cNah\u201d.<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cWhy?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Now here, someone explained the dog belonged to a friend.<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cI woulda choked that dog to the light. That woulda been a dead dog.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then after a slight pause, and to the surprise of everyone present, Crawford said he too had been bit by a dog.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d Tszyu replied.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Tszyu & Crawford share unfiltered chat | 03:57<\/p>\n
\u201cI was young,\u201d he started. \u201cProbably nine years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my fault too because I used to tease the dog. I went into my friend\u2019s 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\u2019s crying, I\u2019m crying, he\u2019s screaming, I\u2019m screaming. I\u2019m like \u2018get your dog!\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m running around and as I\u2019m trying to block, the dog chomped on me. I\u2019m so scared. The dog is scratching me on the back. Bite marks. Then the mum grabs the dog, and I come outside like \u2018f***\u2019. I\u2019m so scared. I said to my friend \u2018why didn\u2019t you grab the dog?\u2019. Then his brother looked at me and said \u2018Bud your arm\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still trying to catch my breath and said \u2018what?\u2019. I looked and all you could see was blood coming out. I started screaming, crying and ran home. Them dogs ain\u2019t no joke.\u201d<\/p>\n
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: \u201cYou\u2019re a big boy, bro. How did you make super lightweight? You started at super lightweight, yeah \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cLightweight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cLightweight? Ah, undisputed super lightweight, welterweight, then super middleweight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next up, diet.<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cYou ate a lot of seafood right? Don\u2019t eat a lot of meat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cI eat chicken and turkey but not beef or pork. It\u2019s just bad for you\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cI\u2019ve 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cThat\u2019s my kryptonite. I eat too much candy and snacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cNot during camp, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish man,\u201d added Tszyu, with the pair then drifting into the topic of ice cream and some US snack known as Little Debbies.<\/p>\n
Tim Tszyu looks to ‘annihilate’ Nurja | 05:39<\/p>\n
At another point, talk turned to Crawford\u2019s own win over Spence.<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cI\u2019ve 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cBecause it was the moment. A big moment. And I wasn\u2019t going to let it get away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cDid you practice certain things in that camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cNah, we knew what to expect. Like in the Canelo fight, we knew what to expect. Me personally, I\u2019ll never go in there like \u2018ah, let\u2019s practice and do this, let\u2019s train for this\u2019 \u2026. 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\u2019ve got to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cWhat was your hardest fight?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cProbably Gamboa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGamboa, your boy,\u201d Tszyu grinning, nodding to his new Cuban trainer Pedro Diaz, who was stood alongside the pair and helped make Gamboa an Olympic star. <\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cA lot of people say Israil Madrimov but he was just awkward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cWhat made Gamboa hard?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cI just had to figure him out. Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cThat was your big fight as well, right? I think that was the first fight I watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cThat dude was darting in. Like boom, boom, boom. I was \u2018f***\u2019.<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cYou kept lighting him up\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cYeah, 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\u2019s the only fight I ever been \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cHurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tszyu: \u201cIn what way?\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford: \u201c[Smiles] Like \u2026 boom! I was like \u2018damn\u2019. My legs locked up. I was like, what the f*** was that? It was me getting over confident. Walked into a shot I didn\u2019t see and paid for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon after, talk turned to basketball and the fact Tszyu can play more than a little<\/p>\n
\u201cI beat Tim\u2019s ass,\u201d Crawford cackled.<\/p>\n
Cue some b-ball discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can really play though,\u201d Crawford eventually interjected. \u201cI used to play \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
But can you dunk?<\/p>\n
Crawford shook his head, saying: \u201cI can shoot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to play in training camp. Play all the time. But my coaches used to get angry saying \u2018you gunna f*** around and get hurt, twist in ankle, jam a finger \u2026 you need to stop that s***\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
At which point, someone mentioned a dog bite…<\/p>\n
Find out more about Terence Crawford\u2019s \u2018Victory Lap\u2019 Australia tour here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"American megastar Terence Crawford has confirmed he is wagering a $10,000 bet on Tim Tszyu to lose his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578303,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-578302","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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