Dierry Jean says he has a surprise Saturday for WBO champion Terence ?Bud? Crawford.
The challenger?s Montreal-based trainer, Mike Moffa, had one as well for those in attendance Wednesday at the public workouts for Saturday night?s HBO title fight.
When Jean finished shadow boxing alone in the ring at Crawford?s B&B Boxing Academy, Moffa lifted punch mitts for his 29-1 Haitian-born junior welterweight to hit. The palm of each mitt had a picture of Crawford?s face pasted on it.
Moffa smiled as some in the crowd laughed at the gesture ? perhaps a response to Crawford?s team taking liberties with a cardboard cutout of Jean at the fight?s initial press conference back in August.
Jean couldn?t attend that event after losing his passport. It wasn?t the only thing he missed.
?My big brother passed away 2 1⁄2 months ago,? he said. ?I was supposed to be in Haiti for the funeral, but I lost my passport. I couldn?t even be there. So after the fight I?m going to go there to say my goodbye.?
Jean was going to visit his ailing brother in Haiti this summer when he lost his passport. He said he was tired and missed his flight at the airport. After taking a cab home in Montreal, he realized he had left his bag at the airport. It was gone when he returned, along with his passport and Canadian citizenship card.
His team came to Omaha without him. A cardboard cutout of him was placed in his chair at the event.
Jean said the loss of his older brother served as added motivation for his recent training camp.
?That gave me extra energy to fight for him,? he said. ?I?m ready to die in that ring.?
The challenger declined to elaborate on his surprise, saying only, ?I think I?m going to shock the world.?
A victory over the heavily favored Crawford would certainly stun most. The unbeaten champion from Omaha appeared after Jean on Wednesday but was seemingly asked more about 2016 than Saturday.
Crawford made it clear that his focus is on the present and not on questions surrounding his future.
?I don?t listen to them,? he said. ?My main priority is Jean. And that?s all I?m thinking about right now. I?m not thinking about nobody else but him. … I look at every fight as a must-win no matter who I fight.?
Crawford needs to keep winning to have a shot at the potential bouts he?s constantly asked about ? a showdown with Manny Pacquiao or a unification match with new WBC champ Viktor Postol.
In Jean, he?s facing a once-beaten fighter who unsuccessfully challenged for a 140-pound title before. Crawford was reminded that Jean sparred with Pacquiao before his bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
?Who cares about sparring?? he responded. ?Don?t nobody care about sparring. It?s sparring, not a fight.?
Crawford (26-0, 18 knockouts) is 4-0 in world title fights, with a pair of technical knockouts. Saturday?s bout at the CenturyLink Center will be the first defense of the junior welterweight belt he won in Texas in April when he stopped Thomas Dulorme of Puerto Rico in the sixth round.
Moffa said the Omahan started slowly in that bout as well as others. He intends for Jean to capitalize.
?He gives the rounds away in the beginning,? Moffa said, ?so we?ll make sure we take them.?
Asked if he felt he could win a decision in Crawford?s hometown, Jean said he was certain of it.
?We believe in the judges,? he said. ?I hope they?re going to be fair.?
Crawford said he doesn?t consider himself a slow starter, adding that he wouldn?t deviate from his plan.
?I?m not going to go out rushing myself. I?m going to do what I?ve been doing, and that?s sticking to what I know best ? boxing and getting the job done,? he said. ?They can say what they want. They can say they?re going to come out and do this. But once you?re in the ring, it?s different. We?re just going to have to wait until Saturday to see what he?s going to bring and what I?m going to bring to the table.?
