Will Crawford vs. Postol enough to forget, even for a blessed moment, the freak shows by which it is bookended? You betcha?
Much is being made of Saturday?s super lightweight unification bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and for good reason.
WBO titleholder Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs), the rising star from Omaha, Nebraska, and WBC champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs), ?The Iceman? from Los Angeles by way of Velyka Dymerka, Ukraine, are both undefeated. They are both in their prime. And the winner may fight Manny Pacquiao, whose brief retirement is coming to an end.
The fight is also the first pay-per-view venture for Crawford and Postol, which neither fighter, both of whom are relative unknowns, may deserve, given the criteria by which PPV was created.
It was the fighters who allegedly wanted the fight to be on pay-per-view. But Top Rank, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, is ?girding for a financial disaster,? given the lack of name recognition, no less than the timing of the fight, coming as it does between the quadrennial kabuki theater we call presidential elections.
Crawford is a terrific fighter. What he lacks in charisma he more than makes up for in skill. He is on a roll, having stopped his last three opponents, Thomas Dulorme and Dierry Jean in 2015 and Henry Lundy last February.
But Postol?s last win, over Lucas Matthysse in October, may be more meaningful than the aforementioned trio of victims on Crawford?s ledger combined.
?I was fighting for the title against one of the strongest punchers in the division,? Postol told ESPN.com. ?The importance of that fight for my career and my life was not lost on me. It was all I thought about during training camp at Wild Card. It?s all I ever wanted since I started boxing in a gym outside Kiev as a 12-year-old boy.
?I do not consider myself an underdog in this fight. Terence Crawford?s fans might consider me as the underdog but that does not bother me. I?m 100 percent confident in myself and in my victory.
?After I win this fight, I won?t be the underdog again.?
Postol is no easy out. He comes to fight and he comes to win, a quality he shares with Terence Crawford.
?I just want to fight and be recognized as the best in my division,? said Crawford. ?So if going through Postol means that?s how I get there, then so be it.
?I feel, all around, I can do whatever I want in there. If I have to box, I box. If I have to brawl, I brawl. If I have to trade, I trade. In those types of fights, I have the power to back you up. All in all, I feel like my IQ is what takes me to the next level.?
Postol?s IQ is also in the triple digits.
?Every training camp that I?m here, I?m getting more serious,? he said. ?I?m getting more power, more speed, learning new combinations with Freddie. Overall, improving in every fashion.?
Someone?s 0 has to go and it?s a tossup as to which fighter it will be.
?There is no pressure on me being looked at as boxing?s next superstar,? Crawford said, perhaps putting the cart before the horse, ?but there is a lot of hard work in becoming one. I?m really excited to be on the big stage and I?m on that big stage because I paid my dues in the gym and in the ring. That?s the reason I have accomplished so much as a fighter ? pride of performance ? and that?s why I am going to win Saturday.
?If I?m going to solidify my position as the new face of boxing it starts by unifying the 140-pound division. Postol is nothing to me. He?s just another guy that I?m fighting. I?m not training for Postol, I?m training for myself, to be the best I can possibly be. I do that, then no one can beat me. I?m confident in my abilities and I am confident that I am going to destroy Postol.?
Crawford?s confidence is infectious?and it sounds like Postol has caught the bug.
?It?s hard for me to predict,? said Postol, ?but I think that both of us want to fight and we are both champions and both of us are going to be aggressive and both of us want to win by knockout. I think that will make this a very aggressive and exciting fight. It may go from a chess match to a brawl and back.?
Chess match to brawl and back is just what the doctor ordered. Will it be enough to justify the cost? Will it be enough to forget, even for a blessed moment, the freak shows by which it is bookended?
You betcha.
