LAS VEGAS ? The plan for Terence ?Bud? Crawford to become the world welterweight champion began long before he vacated his 140-pound titles, and even before he became a lightweight champion.
Crawford?s head trainer and manager Brian ?BoMac? McIntyre said it?s been the goal all along.
?Terence could?ve been a welterweight,? he said. ?But we, as team, felt like we wanted to take full advantage of 135 and 140 as he was coming out of the amateurs. He could?ve been a welterweight, but we were taking our time with this.
?Boxing is a marathon. It?s not a sprint. And we in it for the long haul.?
Crawford (32-0, 23 knockouts) spent the first decade of his pro career dominating lightweight and junior welterweight competition. Now, he will make his welterweight debut Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena as a 30-year-old veteran and a two-division champion.
The Omahan, considered one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in boxing, will face WBO champion Jeff ?The Hornet? Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) of Brisbane, Australia, in an attempt to win a title in a third weight class.
Unlike Crawford, Horn has been a welterweight since he turned pro in 2013. But like Crawford, his head trainer ? Glenn Rushton ? had a plan from the beginning that has gone exactly as it was supposed to .
?Glenn had a very, very big vision for Jeff,? said Dean Lonergan, Horn?s promoter for Duco Events. ?That was that one day we were going to fill Suncorp Stadium with 50,000 people for a megafight, then we were going to go on and conquer the world. The first part of that equation, we?ve managed to achieve.?
More than 50,000 packed the rugby stadium in Brisbane last summer to watch Horn stun the boxing world with a unanimous decision over eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao. The result of the close bout drew criticism from many, led by ESPN boxing analyst Teddy Atlas.
?They gave a trophy ? a win, a huge win ? to Horn, the local guy, for trying hard,? Atlas shouted on the fight?s broadcast. ?You?re not supposed to get it for trying hard. You?re supposed to get it for winning.?
Horn got the nod on all three judges? scorecards. He survived a rocky ninth round, after which referee Mark Nelson nearly stopped the fight, then finished strong.
Lonergan said he deserved to win.
?If you weren?t Teddy Atlas, you saw a fight where one of the all-time greats of the ring was thrown around like a rag doll,? he said. ?Jeff had some issues in Round 9, but came back to win 10, 11 and 12.?
Horn thinks he won the fight, but he has heard the opposite view more times than he can count. Though he defended his title once with a stoppage win, he still wants to prove his worth.
?I can?t wait to get in there and prove the doubters wrong,? the 30-year-old champ said. ?I?ve heard I?m a chump. I?ve heard I?m the fraud of the welterweight division. I?m just there to prove everyone wrong.?
Some in Las Vegas this week have suggested that Horn willed himself to the victory over Pacquiao. And those same pundits have said that will alone won?t earn the underdog a victory over Crawford.
Rushton took exception to that, reminding the media that Horn was a quarterfinalist at the 2012 Olympics and was ranked No. 1 by the WBO and IBF heading into the bout with Pacquiao.
?He?s a very, very competent, skillful boxer,? he said. ?Yes, his style may not be the silky smooth style we see from the very classy Terence Crawford. But Rocky Marciano wasn?t that smooth either and look at his record. He was very effective, he had a great chin and he could hit like a mule.
?So can Jeff Horn.?
Horn is a strong, physical fighter with an unorthodox style that allows him to fire punches with both hands from all angles. Lonergan said the Australian is purposely tough to prepare for.
?We know he?s unorthodox, and no one Terence has sparred with can match what Jeff Horn brings to the ring in being unorthodox,? he said. ?He?s not the world?s prettiest fighter, but he?s very effective.
?For a long time, Jeff and Glenn do a thing called broken-rhythm pressure. And what that means is that the pressure keeps coming and coming and coming and the punch count keeps going up and up and up.?
Horn threw 52 more punches than Pacquiao last summer but finished with a much lower connect percentage. He dictated the pace and physicality of the bout. Crawford said he won?t this time.
?Listen, I?m not Manny Pacquiao,? he said. ?I?m bigger. I?m stronger. I?m in my prime. And that?s going to show on Saturday. A lot of people are comparing how he pushed around Pacquiao, but that?s not me.?
Horn?s unpredictable style has often led to the clashing of heads and other rough moments during his bouts. Crawford said he will let the referee deal with those things Saturday and remain focused.
?I think that he comes in with the will to win,? Crawford said. ?He does whatever it takes to win. He?s not the only one that came in headbutting and throwing elbows. He fights to win.?
Crawford expects Horn to do whatever it takes to win, but said he is ready for whatever the champion brings and is confident that he will prevail.
?I?ve got a strong will as well,? Crawford said. ?Pressure breaks pipes. A lot of people came in the ring with me with strong will and they left with their tail tucked in. I?m willing to go in there and do the same with him.
?This is what everybody?s been waiting (for), Terence Crawford to move up to 147. And I?m looking forward to putting on a great show come Saturday night.? Saturday?s Bout Sheet
Jeff Horn (18-0-1) vs. Terence Crawford (32-0), 12 rounds
Antonio Moran (22-2) vs. Jose Pedraza (23-1), 10 round, for Moran?s WBO Latino lightweight title
Jose Benavidez (26-0) vs. Frank Rojas (22-0), 10 rounds, WBA welterweight title eliminator
Aelio Mesquita (16-1) vs. Skakur Stevenson (6-0), eight rounds, featherweights
Darleys Perez (33-3-2) vs. Maxim Dadashiev (10-0), 10 rounds, for the NABF junior welterweight title
Steven Nelson (10-0) vs. DeShon Webster (10-1), six rounds, light heavyweights
Gabriel Flores (7-0) vs. Jorge Rojas (4-3-1), six rounds, featherweights
David Kaminsky (1-0) vs. Trevor Lavin (1-0), six rounds, junior middleweights
