This Bud Is Forever: Crawford claims his era with defining stoppage of Spence

LAS VEGAS –It’s always been what Terence Crawford said it was.

It’s his era.

This Bud is forever.

Terence “Bud” Crawford delivered the proof – definitively – Saturday with a devastating ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. in front of a T-Mobile Arena crowd that roared, first in disbelief and then in just plan admiration.

At his best, Crawford has been The Sweetest Scientist of his generation. But the proof was always elusive for the welterweight from Omaha, a midwestern city in a state known more for college football, wheat and Warren Buffett than boxing.

“Nobody believed me,’’ Crawford said in a ring crowded with his fans, officials and cops.

They do, now.

Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) was at his scientific best, breaking down fighters in a way nobody ever has. Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) had never been knocked down. Crawford floored him three times, once in the second and twice in the seventh.

Crawford’s many – now former – critics often complained about his resume. The question was always:

Who have you fought?

Spence and his trainer, Derrick James, asked exactly that question just a few days before opening bell.

But he dominated Spence as much as he has everyone else in his era. Perhaps, more so.

To wit: Crawford found himself in tougher fights against Shawn Porter and Jose Benavidez Jr. Porter’s dad threw in the towel after 10 rounds. Benavidez didn’t fall until the 12^th and final round.

Dominance defines Crawford, explains his era. He’s been so dominant that it’s almost hard to believe. Until now.

“It means everything because of who I took the belts from,’’ said Crawford, who added Spence’s three belts, giving him an undisputed four for the second time in his career. “They tried to blackball me. They kept me out. They talked bad about me. They said I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t beat these welterweights.

“I just kept my head to the sky and kept praying to God that I would get the opportunity to show the world how great Terence Crawford is. Tonight, I believe I showed how great I am.”

There was no argument from Spence, who fought for only the third time since his scary auto accident.

“My timing was a little bit off,’’ Spence said.  “He was just the better man tonight.

“He was just throwing the hard jab. He was timing with his jab. His timing was just on point. I wasn’t surprised by his speed or his accuracy. It was everything I thought.

“We gotta do it again. I’m going to be a lot better. It’ll be a lot closer. It’ll probably be in December and the end of the year. I say we gotta do it again. Hopefully, it will happen 154 (pounds).”

Their contract includes a rematch clause. But Crawford’s dominance might erode the public demand for a sequel.

It was apparent in the second round. Crawford threw a left hand. Then a jab. Then a precise combination. Spence was down, down for the first time in his career. He looked confused. Defeat was on his horizon for the first time.

Seven rounds later, defeat was reality.

In the seventh, Crawford dropped Spence with a counter. He dropped him again with a right hook set up by an uppercut to the body.

It was just a matter of time. That time arrived in the ninth. Referee Harvey Dock looked at Spence, bloodied in the face and standing unsteady legs. Dock ended at 2:32 of the ninth.

“It was a good stoppage,’’ Crawford said.

It’s been an even better era..

Isaac Cruz wins split decision

Isaac Cruz is built like a boulder. He moves like one.too. He tirelessly pursues, picking up momentum from round to round like a stone moving down a slight incline. Don’t get on his way. Giovanni Cabrera did. Punishment was the price.

Somehow, Cabrera stayed upright. Somehow, he survived.

But he lost anyway, losing a debatable split-decision to the stronger, more aggressive Cruz Saturday night in the last fight before the long-awaited Crawford-Spence main event.

Two judges scored it for Cruz, 114-113 and 115-112. A third judge, Glenn Feldman had it 114-113 for Cabrera. Fledman’s score was announced first. The crowd groaned. But there was no outrage this time. Just questions.

“I thought I dominated the first,” Cruz (25-2-1, 17 KOs), of Mexico City, said through an  interpreter.

So did the crowd. But Cruz, who put himself in line for a shot at lightweight champion Tank Davis, hurt himself by holding in the eighth round. He was penalized a point. He also could never knock down the game Cabrera (21-1, 7 KOs, who is trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach.  

Repeatedly, Cruz fired menacing shots from a crouch. Lefts and rights from all angles were launched as Cruz seemed to spring up and forward at the taller Cabrera. A couple of the shots, successive left, landed and echoed throughout an arena that was beginning to fill up with restless anxious for the Crawford-Spence showdown.

40-year-old Nonito Donaire loses bid for another title

It was a Filipino hello. And a Filipino goodbye

A T-Mobile Arena crowd welcomed back Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao as a fan at about the same time it prepared to say goodbye to Nonito Donaire as a fighter.

It was a moment, a slice of Filipino history, that transpired late in a  Donaire loss to Mexican Alexandndro Santiago for the World Boxing Council’s bantamweight title in a pay-per-view bout Saturday on the Spence-Crawford card.

Doniare, certain to be a Hall of Famer, didn’t say he would retire in the immediate aftermath of a unanimous-decision defeat.

“I love the sport tso much,” said Donaire, a 116-112, 115-113, 116-112 loser.  “But I’ll have to go back, talk to wife and see what’s next.”

A long twelve rounds was evidence that very little is left. Donaire (42-7, 28 KOs) looked every bit his age. He’s 40. He had hoped to become the oldest bantamweight champion ever. But Santiago proved repeatedly that it’s a younger man’s sport. Santiago (28-35, 14 KOs) displayed more energy and quicker feet.  

He made Donaire look almost stationary. The middle-aged Filipino no longer had the energy in his legs or feet to set up the Donaire power that still echoes over his many many years in the ring.

Yoenis Telez wins third-round stoppage

He was the stand-in. He also was the last one standing.

Yoenis Tellez, a substitute for injured junior-middleweight prospect Jesus Ramos of Casa Grande AZ, delivered power that surprised Sergio Garcia and then beat him Saturday in the Showtime pay-per-view opener on the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford card at T-Mobile Arena.

Tellez (6-0, 5 KOs), a Cuban, rocked Garcia (34-3, 14 KOs) with a right hand set up by a glancing left. Garcia’s knees buckled. It looked as if he might go down. But he caught himself and quickly sprung back up. This time, Telez was there to meet the Spaniard with anotherleft tnat  put him down.

Again, Gracia jumped up .But he had an uncertain look in his eyes as referee Robert Hoyle counted. Then, Garcia stumbled  as he tried to walk to his corner. That’s when Hoyle ended it, a TKO at 2:02 of the third round.

Steven Nelson remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over Rowdy Legend Montgomery in a super middleweight fight.

Nelson, 167.8 lbs of Omaha, NE won by scores 100-90 and 99-91 twice and is now 19-0. Montgomery, 166.8 lbs of Victorville, CA is 10-5-1.

Jose Salas stopped Aston Palicte in round four of their 10-round super bantamweight.

Salas dropped Palicte to a knee in round four. Palicte got to his feet, but the fight was stopped at 1:30.

Salas is now 13-0 with 10 knockouts. Palicte is 28-8-1.

Jabin Chollet wins second-round TKO

Jabin Chollet probably broke more of a sweat after the fight than he did during it.

Chollet (8-0, 7 KOs) headed out,  back into Vegas”s meltdown heat, after some quick work, a second-round stoppage  of Michael Portales (3-2-1, 1 KO) in a lightweight bout on the non-televised portion of the Spence-Crawford card Saturday at T-Mobile.

The overmatched Portales, of Hayward CA, was simply too small for Chollet, of San Diego. 

Demier Zamora wins easily, scores a scorecard shutout of Buzolin

He calls himself The War Machine. But there was no war Saturday. More like maneuvers.

Las Vegas lightweight Demier Zamora (12-0, 9 KOs) had all of the right ones, out-maneuvering Nikolai Buzolin (9-5-1, 5 KOs), of Brooklyn NY,  throughout eight rounds for a shutout decision in the third fight on the Crawford-Spence card. 

DeShawn Prather scores knockdown, wins narrow decision

Only a knockdown separated DeShawn Prather from Kevin Ventura .

A fifth round knockdown of Ventura allowed Prather to escape with a narrow victory in a welterweight fight Saturday afternoon about six hours before the Spence-Crawford showdown for the undisputed welterweight title at T-Mobile..

Prather (16-1, 2 KOs), of Kansas City, got a unanimous decision, 57-56 on all three cards against Ventura (11-1, 8 KOs), of Omaha.

First Bell: Spence-Crawford card off to a hot start

On the streets, there was no way to avoid the 112-degree heat. Inside T-Mobile Arena, there was no avoiding Justin Viloria.

Viloria (3-0, 3 KOs) got the Errol Spence-Terence Crawford show off to a hot start in a Saturday matinee, scoring a fourth-round stoppage of Pedro Borgaro (4-1, 2 KOs) in a junior-lightweight bout.

The aggressive Viloria, of Whittier CA, went on to land successive shots. By the fourth, a tiring Borgaro, of Mexico, looked defenseless. At 41 seconds of the round, referee Robert Hoyle ended it.