It was a successful outing for Terence Crawford as he defended his WBO junior welterweight title against Hank Lundy in New York at the Madison Square Garden Theater on HBO.
Lundy was surprisingly competitive in the early going of the fight, but it wouldn’t last long.
Crawford managed to take hold of the fight in the 2nd round and never really let it go. Lundy was in the fight and live, it seemed, but Crawford was able to take his time and do things methodically.
For Crawford, he wasn’t going to allow for the “grudge match” style antics to get the best of him, but he was also anxious to make Lundy pay for everything he had said in the lead-up to the fight. That is why, in the 3rd round, Crawford made sure to keep his lead, but he also began setting up the finish. To the untrained eye, Crawford seemed a bit hesitant, but the truth is it was an offense similar to the loading of a gun. Perhaps uneventful in its essence, but the violence is in the preparation and the thoroughness of the preparation.
It turned out that Crawford had loaded up the big guns and decided to unleash the assault on Lundy in the 5th round. Crawford started to turn up the heat and by letting his hands go at just the right time, it threw Lundy for a loop. Crawford faked the looping right hand from the southpaw and orthodox position, but then he fired a one-two that sent Lundy to the canvas.
Moments later, and after Lundy was able to beat the count and make it to his feet, Crawford was able to completely swarm Lundy and force a stoppage.
Crawford would win by TKO and finish the war of words in the ring. However, it was all respect after as Crawford went on to explain in the post-fight interview with Max Kellerman.
“I just told him good fight, I appreciate him taking the fight. That’s all. Like I said before, he was going to respect me today. He showed my respect and that’s why I respect him,” Crawford said.
During the post fight interview, Crawford reffered Kellerman to Bob Arum for word on his next opponent. When Kellerman asked who Crawford could face next, he reported Arum giving Ruslan Provodnikov as a likely opponent.