An elite fighter knew that Terence Crawford was meant for giant things when he first encountered him.
No matter whether he was stripped of his belts, Crawford at all times seemed the apparent favorite to brush fighter of the yr awards in 2025.
His landmark victory over Canelo Alvarez to turn out to be the undisputed super middleweight champion finally felt just like the moment that he received all of the praise that he deserved.
What we didn’t know on the time was that it will be his last appearance contained in the ring, with Crawford announcing his retirement on December 16.
A fighter who knows ‘Bud’ well recently told the goosebumps-inducing story of how they met and the impact that it had on him.
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Timothy Bradley needed to ask Terence Crawford who he was after being stunned by him in sparring
Boxing Hall of Famer Timothy Bradley is most well-known for his trilogy of fights with Manny Pacquiao.
During a recent appearance on Andre Ward’s ‘The Art of Ward’, Bradley recalled how before his first bout with ‘PacMan’, when he was preparing for Devon Alexander, he met Terence Crawford for the primary time.
‘Bud’ was flown in to be his sparring partner they usually immediately got within the ring without introducing themselves to 1 one other.
“I get within the ring with him, my team is correct here. This dude is by himself,” Bradley recalled. “Terence is within the corner by himself. Ain’t no one, he got here to my corner to get water after each round.”
Crawford’s ability to go toe-to-toe with him immediately stunned the reigning WBO light welterweight champion, with him admitting that his coach ended the session early on account of how competitive it was.
Bradley says he then approached Crawford to ask him who he was and where he was from, telling him that he wasn’t only a sparring partner, he was a world champion.
The 42-year-old went on to elucidate that he knew the person he continued to coach alongside wasn’t any strange fighter on account of one trait.
“I sparred him on Monday so then I’m going over the film and studying him and looking out on the mistakes he made on Monday but then Wednesday comes and he’s a totally different fighter,” Bradley said. “No person was in his corner. By himself. It was like this dude had a photographic memory, bro. In order that’s after I was identical to this dude is different.”
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Timothy Bradley called Terence Crawford’s manager to purchase him out of his contract
Timothy Bradley also revealed, when talking to Andre Ward, that the impression Terence Crawford made went further than keeping him around as a sparring partner.
The previous champion joked that the rationale he didn’t introduce himself to ‘Bud’ at first they usually sparred immediately after he arrived was to examine whether or not they’d have to send him back home if he wasn’t ok.
That is what Crawford’s manager Cameron Dunkin expected to listen to when he received a phone call from Bradley after the session.
As a substitute, Bradley called to ask whether he could buy him out of his contract, which Dunkin obviously declined after hearing how their sparring session had gone.
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