LAS VEGAS — Super welterweight world boxing champion Jermell Charlo made a bold prediction Wednesday that his friend and teammate Errol Spence Jr. will finish 147-pound rival Terence Crawford in just six rounds Saturday when the two fighters collide atop a Premier Boxing Champions event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Spence has been acclimatizing in the desert for weeks but has not been alone as other members of coach Derrick James’ World Class Boxing Gym in Texas — Anthony Joshua, Ryan Garcia, Frank Martin, and Charlo — all made the trip to Nevada.
At a media event ProBox TV attended Wednesday at the MGM Grand, Charlo could be seen leaning over the top rope of a makeshift boxing ring, while Spence spoke to ring announcer Ray Flores.
Charlo was in typical form and could even be heard saying that the promotion for his September event with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez would attract more fans than the ones who had flocked to get a glimpse of Spence at the mid-week workout.
Later, when leaving the venue, Charlo held up his hands to show six fingers as a response to one question about which round he thought Spence would finish Crawford in.
Crawford, obviously, disagrees.
Earlier in the day, when speaking to ring announcer Ray Flores at the same public event, Crawford confidently said he’d “secure the victory Saturday.”
Crawford said: "You can expect fireworks. You can expect the best Terence Crawford that you guys have seen yet.
“I've trained tremendously hard,” he added. “I'm sure he's trained hard and that he'll try to knock me out. I'll try to knock him out, and it'll make for an exciting fight.”
