Vasyl Lomachenko made his case three weeks ago. Now it?s Terence ?Bud? Crawford?s turn to take center stage and show us why he?s the current top pound-for-pound fighter.
Crawford has been kind of the forgotten man in the PFP balloting in recent weeks, while Lomachenko was battering former lightweight champion Jorge Linares and Gennady Golovkin, the other guy in the PFP Big Three, was beating up an over-the-hill Vanes Martirosyan to keep his No. 1 Ring magazine PFP rating. Ring has Crawford second and Lomachenko third.
Crawford, meanwhile, has been idle since last August due to a broken hand, which moved his title fight with WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn back from April to June 9 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas (on ESPN TV). Out of sight, out of mind as they say.
There are some people on the boxing scene who are even predicting another big upset for the undefeated Horn, whom you recall shocked the boxing world not too long ago with a victory over Manny Pacquiao that gave him the WBO welterweight title.
There were also some people, including TV boxing commentator Teddy Atlas, who thought Pacquiao got the shaft in that loss, but I watched the fight on TV and had Horn winning a narrow decision in a fight that could have gone either way.
Horn?s not flashy, but he?s strong and applies relentless pressure, which I think wore the usually tireless Pacquiao down a little.
But Pacquiao will be 40 in December and is in the twilight of his career, while Crawford is 30 years old (the same age as Horn) and is in his peak years. How good is Crawford? Well, he combines outstanding hand speed with punching power, good movement, and good defensive skills.
He?s also patient and very relaxed in the ring. This is a guy who does not panic when things don?t go his way. Horn will make him work, but he won?t be able to discourage him. Crawford will win a unanimous decision, and by a wide margin.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Crawford is unbeaten at 32-0, with 23 KOs. He won the WBO and Ring magazine lightweight titles and then the undisputed junior welterweight title (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, and Ring magazine) before moving up to welterweight.
He fights out of the orthodox stance, but can comfortably switch to southpaw without missing a beat. What it all comes down to is that there is nothing Crawford can?t do in the ring.
Pacquiao, incidentally, will take on WBA ?regular? welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which could be his last fight, win or lose.
INOUE BROTHERS WIN
Unbeaten two-weight division champion Naoya ?the Monster? Inoue (16-0, 14 KOs) is now a three-weight division champ. He added the WBA ?regular? bantamweight title with a one-sided first round TKO over reigning champ Jamie McDonnell last Friday in Tokyo. His next target will no doubt be WBA ?super? bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett.
On the undercard, Naoya?s younger brother, Takuma Inoue (11-0, 3 KOs), also remained unbeaten with a first round, one-punch TKO over Waldo Sabu (12-12). The one punch was a vicious body shot.
Not to be outdone, Naoya also used a wicked body punch to floor McDonnell and set up the knockout.
RUSSELL BROTHERS ROLL
In another show of brotherly mayhem, WBC featherweight champion Gary Russell (29-1, 17 KOs), won a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jo Jo Diaz (26-1) last Saturday in Oxon Hill, Maryland, while younger brothers Antonio and Antuanne Russell both won by knockout on the undercard.
Super bantamweight Antonio (6-0) stopped Jonathan LeCona (17-20) in the fifth round, while junior welterweight Antuanne (11-0, 9 KOs) scored a first round KO over Wilmer Rodriguez (9-3).
CIRCLE JUNE 9
You may want to circle June 9 on your calendar. In addition to the Crawford-Horn bout on ESPN, the rematch between WBA ?super? featherweight champ Leo Santa Cruz and four-time world champ Abner Mares will be televised the same day on Showtime from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Santa Cruz won a majority decision in their first meeting for the vacant featherweight belt in 2015 in a bout in which the two rivals threw a combined total of over 2,000 punches. It was a classic.
WARRINGTON CROWNED
Undefeated Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KOs) dethroned IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (26-2) with a close 12-round split decision. The scorecards were 115-113 for Warrington, 115-113 for Selby and 116-112 for Warrington.
