Hank Lundy doesn’t think much of Terence Crawford. It’s an opinion, it should be noted, that is subject to change after they meet on Saturday at Madison Square Garden for Crawford’s WBO junior welterweight title.

But in the run-up to the fight, it’s clear that Lundy is saying whatever he can to get inside Crawford’s mild-mannered head. And so on a conference call on Tuesday, Philly’s Lundy (26-5-1, 13 knockouts) maintained that he has faced three different fighters over his colorful career who may all be superior to Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs) in titleholder Viktor Postol, Ajose Olusegun (whom Lundy beat) and even Dannie Williams (whom he also beat and called a “toss-up” as being better than Crawford).

“Who has Terence fought?” said Lundy. “It was only Gamboa, man. At the end of the day, Gamboa was only, what, 5-2?” (Gamboa is nearly 5-foot-6.) “At the end of the day, Gamboa was able to out-box him for the first seven rounds, until Crawford switched up and went southpaw.”

Belittling Crawford as a fighter is a curious choice considering that Crawford resides on many pound-for-pound lists, including THE RING’s, where he is sixth.

Of Williams, Lundy said he was a “more dangerous puncher than Crawford.” He called Postol a “better technician” than Crawford. “I know I’m in his head,” Lundy said of the constant chatter. “I’m already in his head but I also mean every word that I say.”

Lundy said that Crawford’s been acting out of character for this fight, a result of his slights. “Everybody know Terence doesn’t talk much, he doesn’t say much,” Lundy said. “He don’t act a certain way but you’ve seen a different Terence Crawford leading up to this fight, voicing his opinion, cursing. You ain’t never seen that from Terence Crawford.”

Crawford, who has beaten some of the same opponents that Lundy has lost to, including stopping Thomas Delorme in the sixth round in April, didn’t seem phased by the verbal onslaught. “A person can say, ‘Oh, this guy is not special, this guy is this’ until he gets into the ring with me and then he sees different,” Crawford said in the second portion of the conference call. “So my job is to make him see different on Saturday.”

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