LAS VEGAS –A take-over has taken off.
Terence Crawford’s promise to take over the welterweight division is off and running with a powerful debut in a ninth-round stoppage Saturday of Jeff Horn at the MGM Grand in an ESP + televised bout.
Crawford took the WBO’s version of the 147-pound belt from Horn with a left hand, a right hand, an uppercut, a textbook full of angles and little bit of attitude.
“I told you all before: I’m strong,’’ Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) said. “And I was way stronger than he was.’’
Maybe stronger than anybody in the weight class. Punching angles, versatility and hand speed have been a pretty well-known part of the Crawford skillset for a long time. His overall strength might have been a question, only because he had never fought at 147.
Against an Aussie known for only his strength, however, Crawford looked like the bigger fighter. From round to round, Horn began to shrink, both physically and as a threat. Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs) pushed Manny Pacquiao, a longtime standard at 147 pounds, around the ring in a controversial decision last summer. After about four rounds against Crawford, Horn was back-pedaling in a retreat that will take him back Down Under.
Add proven strength to that Crawford skillset, and you’ve got an impressive addition that might also be very a big reason for the best in the current welterweight division to stay away. Jose Benavidez Jr., a Phoenix welterweight, who scored a dramatic first-round knockout on Saturday’s undercard, sounds as if he still more than willing to face Carwford, who shook his shoulder and stuck his tongue out at a crowd of 8,112 seconds after referee Robert Byrd ended it.
But don’t be surprised if some of the others find other opponents, or other things to do. In the here-and-now, Crawford is as dangerous as anyone at 147. He also re-stamped his pound-for-credentials. Maybe, Vasiliy Lomachenko is still No. 1. But Crawford is No. 2 and closing.
“Well done,’’ Horn said, who was finished at 2:33 of the ninth, moments after he suffered a knockdown and a head-rocking left hand. “Terence Crawford, you’re a great fighter.’’
No argument about that from anyone anywhere on take-off Saturday.
It was bloody. Both fighters were left with white trunks that looked like stained butcher cloth. Signs of carnage were just about everywhere.But in the end, there was only one winner. Puerto Rican lightweight Jose Pedraza endured, survived and emerged with a decision, unanimous yet narrow on all three scorecards Saturday night in the last fight before the Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn main event at the MGM Grand.
Pedraza (24-1, 12 KOs) won the 10 rounds, 96-94 on each card, with some stubborn resilience, a few big uppercuts and respect for Mexican Antonio Moran (22-3, 15 KOs), who fought tenaciously throughout the 10 rounds despite a huge gash that he suffered at the bridge of his nose early in the second. From round to round, the blood poured, affecting his vision and Pedraza’s vision in a fight almost too close to call for everybody who could see it.
Jose Benavidez Jr. says he wants a shot at the Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn winner.
He did more than say it Saturday night. He delivered some pretty convincing evidence.
There was no arguing with Benavidez’ first-round demolition of Frank Rojas, a formerly unbeaten Venezuelan on the Crawford-Horn undercard at the MGM Grand.
In a fight for a mandatory shot at the World Boxing Association’s welterweight title, Benavidez (27-0, 18 KOs) landed a long right to the head, a left to the body and then another right to the head. Rojas (22-1 21 KOs) went to his knees, then fell on his face.Rojas was unconscious before he ever landed a punch. At 1:24 of the first round, Rojas was out and Benavidez, a former 140-pound champ, was — is — very much in the welterweight hunt
Super-featherweight Gabriel Flores stays busy and unbeaten
Unbeaten super-featherweight Gabriel Flores Jr. (8-0, 5 KOs) of Stockton, Calif., stayed busy, got in some work and won a unanimous decision over Mexican Jorge Rojas (4-4-1, 2 KOs) Flores commanded the ring and the card, easily winning each one of the four rounds.
Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson got in a little target practice in the seventh fight of his pro career.
Stevenson ( 7-0, 4 KOs) didn’t miss. The featherweight prospect from Newark scored five knockdowns within five minutes for a second-round stoppage of Brazilian Aelio Mesquita (16-2, 14 KOs) Saturday on the Horn-Crawford undercard at the MGM Grand. Mesquita could not get out of the way of a lightning-like left hand from Stevenson, who was penalized one point for throwing a punch with his opponent down for the fourth time.
Mesquita looked to be dizzy from all the punches and those up-and-down trips to the canvas and back again. At 1:45 of the second, it was over, Stevenson by TKO.
It took a while for junior-welterweight Maxim Dadashev to get it right. But when he did, he got it right several times.
After nine dull rounds, Dadashev (11-0 10 KOs), a Russian training in Oxnard, Calif., unleashed a succession of right hands, stunning Colombian Darley Perez (33-4-2, 21 KOs), dropping him once and then finishing him at 1:49 of the 10th.
Steve Nelson (11-0, 9 KOs) , a light-heavyweight from Terence Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, is strong and stubborn, a combo which wore down and eventually wore out Dashon Webster (10-2, 6 KOs) of Kansas City in the second fight on the non-televised portion of an ESPN+ card.
It was an early start for a young middleweight.
A fast finish, too.
David Kaminsky (2-0, 2 KOs), a 17-year-old from Los Angeles, opened the show, scoring a second-round stoppage of Trevor Lavin (1-1, 1 KO) in an afternoon matinee in the first bout on the Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn card at the MGM Grand.
Kaminsky dropped Lavin with wicked right to the body early in the round. Seconds later, at 1:12 of the second, Lavin was finished.
