Crawford Puts on a Clinic Against Beltran Enroute to Decisive Decision Victory

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    hi-res-088ec9e1f5e1ac2b2e98081e28aeeb9a_crop_northTerence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) the Omaha, Nebraskan native put on a dominating performance in front of his home crowd, to retain his WBO light welterweight title. Given the fact his opponent was Raymundo Beltran (29-7, 17 KOs), one of the top fighters in the lightweight division, Crawford’s masterful performance certainly makes him a top contender for fighter of the year honors.

    From round one Crawford established himself as the superior fighter. He constantly used his sharp jab, and lateral movement to keep Beltran at a distance, and to control the tempo of the fight. Beltran was always known as a slow first round fighter but to his dismay he was unable to get anything going for the rest of the fight.

    Every time Beltran seemed to try and push the action, Crawford would limit Beltran’s offense by using his legs, smothering, or clinching Beltran effectively. Crawford also displayed great offensive tools by constantly landing potshots from a distance. At no point in the fight did Crawford seem like he was losing control. Crawford was always defensively aware, never got too careless, and continued to potshot Beltran the entire fight. It was truly a masterful performance by Crawford that led to a wide unanimous decision victory. The scorecards read, 119-109, 119-109, and 120-108 all in favor of Crawford.

    In the post fight interview Crawford stated this was his last fight in the lightweight division. He plans to move up to the 140 pound division for his next fight, but did not specify any fighters he would like to encounter in the ring. Even though no fighters were mentioned by Crawford, speculation of possible clashes with Mikey Garcia, or Manny Pacquiao continue to circulate in the boxing world. Whoever Crawford fights next, he has certainly proven he has the boxing talent and skills to compete with just about anyone in the world. Crawford has definitely established himself as a premier fighter in the sport of boxing.