Crawford puts his lead foot forward and leans back to maintain a safe distance and keep his upper body out of his opponent’s reach and be able to bait him with a jab or hit a jab and get out of that position. Whilst in this position, he probes with a jab to open his opponent so he can reach him with a jab of his own.
His superior footwork allows him to step away from his opponent’s offence and counters, thereby enabling him to effectively land his own counters. Ideally, he stays ahead when an opponent is hitting him with a single shot. However, he steps back when he senses a combination coming his way.
His signature moves include using a jab as a distraction and following it up a right hook to the body and a dissecting uppercut. He uses his speed and movement effectively against slower opponents, especially when he comes up against opponents who telegraph their jabs.
You can see him throw a jab whilst establishing the lead foot positioning. This shows Crawford’s positional awareness. And we’ve learned how great boxers such as James Toney, Gennady Golovkin, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather use their lead foot to position themselves in an advantageous position. In this instance, Terence is following him up with the left hook-uppercut combination, as mentioned above.