Terence Crawford may be the best fighter casual boxing fans know nothing about. Tonight’s PPV card was just another example of Crawford’s immaculate boxing skills but lacklustre promotional ability.
Crawford entered his fight with top ranked junior welterweight Victor Postol as the most promising prospect on Top Rank Promotions. Rumors of a superfight with Manny Pacquiao loomed for months and all that stood in the way was a junior welterweight unification bout with Postol. Many would argue that too dominant of a performance would scare away Manny but a loss would derail any plans of a huge payday.
An unenvious position to say the least.
Crawford, a notoriously slow starter, began the fight as many expected. He felt out Postol, showing off his footwork and circling around the ring. Unlike previous fight he began and finished in a southpaw stance. He usually switches between stances at will but felt no need to switch out of his southpaw style vs Postol.
With that being said, the early rounds were far from easy. Crawford was down 2-1 on most cards after the 3rd round as Postol used his length to keep Crawford at a distance. The 4th round was the turning point for Crawford; he realized that by feinting to his right he’d open up a lethal check right hook. he used that punch to immediately drop Postol to open the round and later followed with the same punch to stun him. The 10-7 4th round was just a taste of what was to come. Crawford used the momentum to dominate Postol and unify the junior welterweight titles.
The 12th round was an added treat as Bud Crawford showed showmanship as he dropped his hands and taunted the tired and downtrodden Postol.
With his toughest fight behind him, Crawford can now set his sights on larger opponents. Top Rank only has a handful of elite fighters in the welterweight division, and with the ‘Cold War’ between Bob Arum and PBC lead Al Haymon still intact, it’s important for Bud to look within the promotion for his next big PPV draw.
There’s no bigger name on Top Rank than Manny Pacquiao and with his dominant performance over Timothy Bradley there’s no better time for the two to match up.
Crawford is on the incline and Bob Arum must realize that Manny is on his way out. The best way to build a future star is to have him go over on the previous star; pardon the pro wrestling jargon. Crawford shied away from calling out Manny by name following his performance but the crowd’s cheers of “We Want Manny!” said it all.
Bob Arum needs to prove that he’s committed to the fans and what the fans want is the old regime vs the new.
