Bud Crawford boxing news and latest headlines
Pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford has vowed to make a statement against John Molina as he looks to be crowned the 2016 ‘Fighter of the Year’.
29-year-old Crawford clashes with the teak tough Molina this Saturday night, exclusively live on BoxNation, at the CenturyLink Center in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says his fighter WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) will have a “major fight” on December 10 on HBO from Omaha, Nebraska. Arum plans on announcing the fight soon. The opponent is said to be John Molina Jr. (29-6, 23 KOs), who has lost 3 out of his last 5 fights since 2014.
According to the man with all the news, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Terence Crawford will likely face John Molina Jnr on December 10 in the unbeaten WBC/WBO 140-pound king’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford, 29-0(20) dominated Viktor Postol in his last ring outing, back in July, taking the WBC belt he now holds along with his WBO.
Molina Jnr, 29-6(23) scored a big win in his last outing, back in June, when he out-pointed Ruslan Provodnikov over 12-rounds. Crawford will enter the ring on Dec 10 as a considerable favourite, but Molina Jnr is never a warrior who can be totally written off. The big news surrounding this match-up, though, is the fact that it will pit a Top Rank fighter against an Al Haymon fighter, without the need for a purse bid.
Top-rated junior welterweight Felix Diaz wants a fight against Terence Crawford, and the Olympic gold medalist wants it bad. Earlier this week, Diaz called out the undefeated two-division world champion Crawford, and it doesn’t seem as though he is planning on quieting down anytime soon.
“I said it earlier and I am going to keep saying it, Crawford is the fight I want,” said Diaz. “There was a ton of positive responses throughout the industry after I called him out the other day, and rightfully so. Stylistically, this is a can’t-miss fight. Everyone knows it, including him. I have no problem going to Omaha for it either. He is the champion. I have no issues going into his backyard and taking his belt from him. We can fight in his mother’s kitchen if that’s where he is most comfortable. My bags are packed for Omaha. I’m ready. Terence, are you?”
Top Rank boss Bob Arum is set to fly out to Manila on August 9, to meet up with the soon to return to the ring Manny Pacquiao and discuss his planned November 5 return to action. According to The Manila Times, Arum says Pac-Man’s opponent will likely be either unbeaten, recently unified WBO/WBC 140-pound champion Terence Crawford or once-beaten reigning WBO welterweight ruler Jessie Vargas.
“I have already booked my flight to Manila, I’m looking forward to that meeting” Arum said. “So far, they [Crawford and Vargas] are the candidates. It’s going to be an absolute blockbuster of a fight, either of the two. Everybody is excited to see Manny return. His last fight against Timothy Bradley was great.”
Many fight fans are just that: fans of a fight, not so much fans of a showcase of subtle skill. For all the respect many fans have for practitioners of The Sweet Science, there is nothing more enjoyable than a two-way slugfest, or as Britain’s Nigel Benn would put it, a tear-up. This past Saturday’s classy and dominant points win Terence Crawford scored over Viktor Postol is a classic example – boxing fans certainly appreciated the boxing mastery of Crawford, but they were not thrilled or left buzzing by it.
The dreaded “boring” tag has already been attached to the 140-pound king, with the comparisons between Crawford and Floyd Mayweather Junior being made. Many a fighter would hugely appreciate being compared to the great defensive master, but some fans have made the comparison by way of a negative thing. Crawford, while highly skilled, didn’t give these fans the kind of raw action they hope to see when they part with their cash (not against Postol he didn‘t, but Crawford has thrilled us before – see his battle with Yuriorkis Gamboa). These same fans will almost certainly get what they want this Saturday, when featherweights Leo Santa Cruz and Carl Frampton rumble in New York.
Undefeated against undefeated, only good can come from it. At least that was the build up, but in actual fact it was bad. There was more than a smattering of punchless minutes. The MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV crowd squirmed in their seats wanting something to happen. When it didn’t, they half heartily booed, not sure if they were doing the right thing. They were.
The fights limited action was okay for two or three rounds, and then in the fifth round Crawford dropped Postol with a surprise right hook. The punch landed high on the left side of Postol’s head. It had enough force and push to deposit Postol on the canvas.
Terence Crawford may well have arrived as the new star of boxing. The unbeaten two-weight champion has been racking up hugely impressive and significant wins for months now, as he has proven time and again how he is deserving of being looked at as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Crawford is arguably top-six, maybe top-five, and as he showed last night in totally dominating Viktor Postol – a tall, long-armed fighter who could have been a stylistic nightmare for him – his speed and reflexes are truly incredible.
In a real stinker of a fight, Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) ran his way to a dull, dull, dull 12 round unanimous decision tonight against WBC light welterweight champion Victor Postol (28-1, 12 KOs) to win his WBC and Ring Magazine light welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Whether you liked Crawford’s performance tonight or thought it was the equivalent of watching paint dry was based on what you like to watch in a fight.
Styles clash when Terence Crawford meets Viktor Postol in a unification bout this Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The winner of this contest holds claim to 140-pound supremacy and a possible fight against the legendary Manny Pacquiao. With superstardom in his sights is Terence Crawford ready to carry the torch?
The betting odds for this #1 versus #2 junior welterweights would have you believe that Viktor Postol is just an ordinary fighter in the way of Crawford’s path to greatness. Most sites feature Postol as a 4/5 to 1 underdog. If you ask any insider or tuned-in fight fan, they’ll tell you it’s a much closer in the ring. Maybe on paper closer to a 60-40 fight, with some experts rating it an even 50-50.