NEW YORK CITY — In the main event of a Top Rank on ESPN card from Madison Square Garden, pound-for-pound great Terence “Bud” Crawford (36-0, 27KO) retained his WBO World Welterweight Title, sending Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 18KO) to the canvas three times en route to a 9th round TKO victory.
True to form, the 32 year old Nebraskan Crawford started slow and conceded early rounds and momentum to Kavaliauskas. In the third round, Kavaliauskas landed a huge right hand that momentarily buckled Crawford. The Lithuanian quickly followed up with a flurry of shots that ultimately collapsed Crawford to the mat, but referee Ricky Gonzalez nullified the knockdown and ruled Crawford was pushed.
After four see-sawing rounds that witnessed both fighters give and take their fair share of punishment, Crawford began to take control in the fifth. “Bud” found success by fighting a more defensive fight and staying out of range of Kavaliauskas’s right eye.
But in the seventh, the switch-hitting Crawford upped the ante and turned up the heat. Time and again Crawford came forward with a high guard and closed the gap between he and Kavaliauskas before letting his hands go.
Towards the end of the round, Crawford caught Kavaliauskas with a buzzing right hook that offset the Lithuanian’s equilibrium and sent him to the mat. Kavaliauskas beat Gonzalez’s ten count and was able to ride out the ensuing storm to make it out of the round.
Just two rounds later, Crawford dropped Kavaliauskas with a vicious uppercut. Just a few moments later, with Kavaliauskas standing on shaky legs, Crawford missiled a left cross to the ear that dropped Kavaliauskas for the third and final time. Gonzalez stepped in immediately to wave off the contest at the :44 mark of the ninth round.
It was the seventh stoppage win in a row for Crawford and tenth in his last eleven contests.
For Kavaliauskas, tonight’s result makes it two straight fights that the tough Lithuanian has exited the ring winless. He previously fought to a disappointing draw against “The New” Ray Robinson in March.
“I thought I had to entertain ya’ll for a little bit,” Crawford said afterward. “He’s a strong fighter, durable, and I thought I’d give the crowd something to cheer for.”
Referring to the second round knockdown-ruled-push, “Bud” said, “I wasn’t hurt at all. I got up and went straight to him. I wasn’t hurt by no means, I walked through everything he threw all night.”
With regards to what’s next for the WBO champ, Crawford said, “I’ll fight anybody. I’ve been saying that for I don’t know how long…I’m not ducking anyone on the PBC side or Top Rank platform…I want to fight all the top guys.”
Unfortunately for Crawford, he remains somewhat stranded on a welterweight island as much of the division’s top talent are under promotional contracts with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC).
Take Over Continues: Lopez Blasts Out Commey In 2 To Capture First World Title
In the night’s most anticipated contest, 22 year-old phenom Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12KO) scored an emphatic second round stoppage over Richard Commey (29-3, 26KO), to capture the IBF World Lightweight Title.
After a close first round that saw little separation between fighters, a straight right by Lopez early in the second caught Commey square on the chin and collapsed the Ghanaian to the canvas. Commey, 32, tried to get up right away, but stumbled forward to the ground before finally making it to his feet before referee David Field reaches the count of ten.
Knowing Commey was standing on unsteady legs, Lopez went all-in, backing Commey against the ropes before unleashing a brutal onslaught of punches that had Commey’s head snapping around with each punch, forcing Fields to mercifully jump between fighters to call a halt to the contest at the 1:13 mark of round two.
It was as impressive and dominating a performance as one could have hoped for Lopez, who now turns his attention to landing a unification bout with lightweight king, Vasiliy Lomachenko.
The emphatic win also quiets Lopez’s detractors, many of whom have suggested that family drama would negatively impact his in-ring performance.
Partially to get away from the noise, Team Lopez held training camp for this fight in Ringoes, NJ, about 60 miles of west of Brooklyn, where Lopez was born and again resides. While Lopez is still trained by his father, also Teofimo, Team Lopez brought in former two-weight champion Joey Gamache into his New Jersey camp to work with Lopez.
Prior to tonight, Commey’s only other losses both came in 2016 when he found himself on the losing end of two close split decisions to Robert Easter, Jr. and Denis Shafikov.
“I’m at a loss for words right now,” Lopez said post-fight. “This a dream come true.”
He continued, “{Commey} is a bad man. His shot could’ve done the same to me if he hit me with that shot…You all know who I want to fight next. 2020 is going to be a big year. ‘The Takeover’ has arrived, and you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Lomachenko, who holds three of the four lightweight titles and was seated ringside tonight, also spoke after the fight, saying, “We want to ‘unificate’ all four titles. Now he’s a world champion and now he’s in position to fight me.”
Sweet Revenge: Conlan Bests Nikitin Via UD
In the opening bout of the ESPN-televised portion of the card, Irish featherweight Mick Conlan (13-0, 7KO) avenged his controversial 2016 Olympic defeat against Russian Vladimir Nikitin (3-1), defeating him by unanimous decision (100-90, 99-91, 98-92).
The switch-hitting 28 year-old Belfast native, Conlan, fought entirely out of the southpaw stance in the opening round working well behind a stiff right jab to control the distance and pace of the fight.
In the second, Conlan fought briefly in the orthodox stance before permanently returning to southpaw.
After an offensively mute first round for Nikitin, the 29 year-old Russian began to come to life in the second, rushing inside Conlan’s reach and wildly letting his hands fly. Nikitin did his best work in the early goings when he was able to pin Conlan against the ropes and fire away.
In the early middle rounds, Conlan — who they’re quick to point out represents all of Ireland — continued to keep Nikitin at arm’s length by continually popping jabs Nikitin’s way. But the crafty Russian kept finding ways to close the gap and force Conlan to engage.
As the fight bore on, the distance naturally closed, and willing exchanges became the norm.
In the eight, both fighters dug in, stood their ground, threw caution to the wind, and fired shots from all angles. Though Conlan bested Nikitin during their exchanges, the Irishman returned to his corner with a gash over his right eye — a cut that continued to leak blood for the remainder of the fight.
It was the sixth time that the Adam Booth-trained Conlan has fought at inside the walls of Madison Square Garden, which has become a home away from home for the Irishman.
The two were initially slated to face each other in early August, but an injury to Nikitin’s bicep forced the fight to be postponed.
Josue Vargas Scores UD Over Noel Murphy
Twenty-one year old Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas (16-1, 9KO) continued his ascent through the junior welterweight ranks, scoring a ten round unanimous decision (98-92×3) over Irishman Noel Murphy (14-2-1, 2KO).
It was a slow-to-start southpaw v southpaw affair that eventually lulled into a hypnotic rhythm that time and again saw Vargas walk down a retreating Murphy before the two exchanged fire.
Neither fighter was particularly hard to hit and by the early middle middle rounds, Vargas sported an ever-growing mouse under his right eye, while a steady of stream of blood trickled from Murphy’s nose.
And though the 25 year-old Murphy was marking up Vargas’s face, it was the Bronx-born Puerto Rican, Vargas, who continually got the better of Murphy during their exchanges.
Tonight was just the second career loss for the durable Murphy, who lives and fights out of Woodhaven, NY by way of Cork, Ireland. His only other career loss came against former world title challenger Mikkel Lespierre in February 2018.
Vargas now has gone the distance three of his last four fights. His lone blemish remains a 2016 DQ against Samuel Santa.
Berlanga Continues First Round KO Streak, Stops Nunez In One
Undefeated Brooklyn super middleweight Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga (13-0, 13KO) continued to steamroll his opposition, scoring his thirteenth straight first round knockout, this time against the normally durable Spaniard Cesar “Bam Bam” Nunez (16-2-1, 8KO).
As per usual, it was bombs away from the opening bell for the Puerto Rican-blooded Berlanga.
Roughly fifteen seconds into the fight, Berlanga landed a clipping left hook that sent Nunez to the canvas. The 22 year-old Berlanga kept the pressure on and continued to unload on the staggering Nunez and ultimately sent him to the mat again with a chopping right, but referee Mike Ortega waved it off, ruling Berlanga hit Nunez behind the head.
Although a foul, the shot had lingering effects, and a foggy Nunez was floored for the third and final time shortly after courtesy of another left hook shortly succeed. Ortega stopped the contest at the 2:45 mark of the first round.
Tonight marks the second consecutive time Nunez has been stopped inside the distance. He was TKO’d by Germany’s Vincent Feigenbutz in August.
Julian “Hammer Hands” Rodriguez Nails Mendez Over Ten, Scores Wide UD
Julian “Hammer Hands” Rodriguez improved to 19-0, 12KO earning a wide eight-round unanimous decision (80-71×2, 79-72) over fellow junior welterweight Manuel “La Tormenta” Mendez (16-7-3, 11KO).
Rodriguez, 25, wasted no time taking it to California’s Mendez, flooring him with a right cross-left hook combo midway through the first round. Mendez would recover from that shot, but only to go on to take nine more rounds of punishment courtesy of Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, a former amateur standout who amassed a record of 221-9 before turning pro, has had a snake-bitten, injury-riddled career thus far. In addition to battling various hand injuries, tonight marked just the third time back between the ropes for the Hasbrouck Heights, NJ-native since undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Kambosos Kicks Off Night With MD Over Bey
Undefeated Australian George “Ferocious” Kambosos, Jr. (18-0, ) passed his toughest test yet, scoring a split decision victory (97-92, 96-93, 94-95) over former world champion Mickey “The Spirit” Bey (23-3-1, 11KO) in a ten round lightweight contest to kick off a seven-fight card from Madison Square Garden.
It was a bit rocky early on for the Aussie, as the veteran Bey landed a few attention-grabbing left hooks. But Kambosos, 26, remained composed and patient, took few risks and waited for tiny openings in Bey’s defense before letting his hands go.
In the final round round, Kambosos finally found that opening and fired off a sneaky right uppercut that caught a leaning-in Bey on the chin, sending him to the mat.
It was Kambosos’ fourth fight in the US and first at Madison Square Garden.
For Bey, tonight was only his second fight in the last 42 months and just the third defeat of his career. His other defeats came against John Molina, Jr. in 2013 and Cuban Rances Barthelemy in 2016.
The main portion of tonight’s Top Rank on ESPN card is set to go live at 9pm when “Irish” Mick Conlan (14-0, 7KO) seeks to avenge his controversial 2016 Olympic defeat against Russian Vladimir Nikitin (3-0). That fight is set to be followed by the most anticipated contest of the evening, as one of boxing’s hottest prospects, Teofimo Lopez (14-0, 11KO) looks to capture his first world title against IBF World Lightweight Champion, Richard Commey. Finally, the night will commence when undefeated pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford (35-0, 26KO) defends his WBO World Welterweight title against hard-nosed Lithuanian Egidijus “Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 18KO).
