Bounce Magazine August 2018

Terence Crawford
The World’s
his Oyster...
AUGUST 2018 | ISSUE #70
BY RALPH OATES
A series of articles which will feature boxing facts
from both the past to the present...
On the 9 June 2018 American
Terence Crawford took one
more step towards greatness
when he won the World
Boxing Organisations version
of the world welterweight
crown. At the MGM Grand in
Las Vegas. Crawford showed
that he was on another level
to the defending champion
Jeff Horn of Australia who was
duly rescued by the referee
in round nine of a scheduled
twelve round encounter.
Going into the contest
Crawford a former undisputed
world champion at superlightweight
and a former WBO
world king at lightweight was
the overwhelming favourite to
take the title so the win by the
American was no big surprise.
Both men entered the ring
with undefeated records
Crawford had won all his thirty
-two bouts while Horn had
won eighteen with one drawn.
Horn who is nicknamed
The Hornet found that he
was the one stung by the
many stinging blows which
Crawford landed on him
during their contest. Crawford
was truthfully never troubled
by Horn he was too slick and
fast. The Australian to his
credit showed courage and
pushed on where lesser men
would have quit.
Horn was making the second
defence of the title which
he had won on the 2 July
2017 at the Suncorp Stadium
in Brisbane, Queensland
outpointing the then
champion Manny Pacquiao
of the Philippines. Pacquiao
had travelled to Australia to
put his title on the line against
Horn and experts expected
him to leave the country
with the championship firmly
in his grasp. However Horn
surprised by outpointing
Pacquiao over twelve rounds.
While this was a good win by
the Australian there was no
doubt that the man Horn had
defeated was past his prime
and not the fighter of old.
Pacquiao was still a quality
operator make no mistake
about that, the fight between
the two men had been close
up to the final bell. Yet it must
be said a few years ago Horn
would have been fortunate to
have lasted the full scheduled
distance with Pacquiao let
alone win.
After a rest from the ring
Horn can regroup put a
few wins together and thus
keep his name relevant,
perhaps looking to win the
Commonwealth crown. I
doubt however if Horn will
be able to climb back to
the very top of the tree. The
opposition in the welterweight
division is tough and while
Horn is a good fighter, he
lacks the required quality to
be able to meet and beat the
top American contenders. I
believe that the Australia has
had his time in the sun.
For new champion Crawford
the world is his oyster he
can look forward to lucrative
unification matches against
rival world champions. At the
moment fellow Americans
Keith Thurman is the World
Boxing Association holder
and Errol Spence Jnr is
the International Boxing
Federation king. The World
Boxing Council’s title is vacant
at the time of writing.
There’s even the chance
that Crawford may decide
at a later date to move up a
division to super-welterweight
with the intention of capturing
a fourth world title. A task
he is more than capable of
accomplishing.
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