Terence Crawford Defends WBO Belt in Final Round

Terrence Crawford needed all 12 rounds to get the job done, and it was his right hand that did the job with only 18 seconds remaining in the 12th round as he defended his title against Jose Benavidez on Sunday night.

Jose Benavidez had called out Terrence Crawford trying to entice him to take the fight, and it was anything but a fight simply to keep busy. He accused Crawford in February that he was avoiding the fight and both camps traded jabs during the news conference in what saw Crawford being shoved by Benavidez and Crawford responding with a swing that just fell short.

After Benavidez took a powerful uppercut to the chin that dropped him to the mat in the 12th, referee Celestino Ruiz brought an end to the fight after Crawford fired off multiple right-handers that put him down a second time and for Crawford, it was revenge., Crawford said after the fight,

“It feels so good to shut somebody up who has been talking for so long. I’m at ease.”

Crawford, who is a three-division champion was defending his title for the first time, and Benavidez share grudges, and as Ruiz called the fight, Crawford stuck out his tongue as act of defiance, one not missed by Benavidez, who commented,

“I gave him a good fight. I don’t think he thought I was going to give him a good fight. But he’s the best of the best. We gave the fans a good show.”

Crawford will now have to wait and see who he will next fight, but it could see the welterweight champion squaring off against Earl Spence Jr, the current IBF Champion. This is something that Bob Arum is hoping to happen in 2019, and one that Spence does not foresee as a problem. Asked if he is ready to fight, Arun said,

Congrats @budcrawford402 you were better than me last night, also thanks to all my fans for the support I’ll be back stronger👊 #TeamBenavidez #crawfordbenavides @trboxing @BenavidezBoxing @Benavidez300 #phoenix pic.twitter.com/gth54mP6nl

— Jose Benavidez Jr (@josebenavidezjr) October 14, 2018

“Hear me now: I’m ready to make that fight next. We’re prepared to sit down and get that fight done, but I can’t force the other people into doing it.”

At 31 years of age, Crawford has a perfect record of 35 wins, zero losses and 25 knockouts. He has ranked in the top two pound for pound fighters and put on a strong show for his hometown crowd of 13,000, one that even included Warren Buffett.

Benavidez, who clearly was the weaker of the two, has racked up 27 wins, 1 loss and 18 knockouts. After a constant barrage of body shots from Crawford, Benavidez began to show the effects as the seventh round got underway.

Still, Benavidez, who at 26, is the younger of the two kept beckoning Crawford to bring it on, and bring it on he did who took control of the fight bringing the crowd to their feet. Chants of “Craw-ford!” “Craw-ford!” could be heard throughout the arena and as the 12th round began, it was Benavidez who could not take more of the constant punishment that Crawford was dishing out.

While speaking to reporters after the fight, Crawford said,

“Oh man, it was coming. It was just a matter of time. He slowed down tremendously. He was tired. That’s when I saw my opportunity to take my best shot.”

The co-main event pitted New Jersey’s Shakur Stevenson, a top featherweight prospect and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medallist, against Romanian Viorel Simion. It took less than the first round to bring an end to the fight after Stevenson knocked out Simion with a blistering left-right combination to the head.

Canadian fans of boxing can look forward to Jean Pascal vs Gary Kopas on the 9th of November in the Centre 200, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. Pascal, who at 39 and hails from Port-au-Prince, Haiti will fight the much younger Kopas, and for punters interested in putting their money behind a more experienced fighter with one of our recommended boxing betting sites, today is the perfect time to register, signup and claim your welcome bonus, well ahead of fight night.