Terence Crawford Is A Stone Cold Keller
Quick recap on tonight's boxing action...
First off, Katie Taylor DOMINATED some other broad I've never heard of to stay undefeated and legendary.
I have tried to be playfully sexist when talking about women's boxing in the blogs today, but if you ever get a chance to watch Taylor in a ring, jump on it... She's the most impressive female athlete I have watched compete since Kaitlin Jenner took gold in the decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, and she's one lip-bite away from being my favorite female combat sport participant...
Giphy Images."This is the way."
Now on to the fellas!
First off, shoutout to Top Rank for giving the casual boxing fan another opportunity to watch world-class athletes without having to go to the hip.
In the same breath, I'd like to also shout, "Eat a dick." to the powers-that-be in Nevada's boxing commission who dropped the ball with using the available instant replay to overturn a "No Contest" decision on the co-main event of Top Rank's card.
I won't go too deep on what happened because it infuriates me, but long story short- In Franco vs Moloney Part 2, Joshua Franco retained his title on a controversial no-decision call after a clash of heads that instant replay revealed didn't exist.
There is no excuse for the ineptitude displayed by the refs and officials in the booth in this situation, BUT it makes Franco vs Moloney Part 3 a whole lot more interesting.
Now for the Main Event!
Terence Crawford retained his WBO welterweight belt after knocking out Kell Brook in the fourth round.
I knew this fight wouldn't go the distance, but after Crawford's traditional slow start, I began to get a Lomachenko/Lopez flashback by the end of the third round as Brook was pitching a shutout on my scorecard.
That all changed in the fourth after Terence nearly snapped Kell's neck with a clean jab that Brook could not recover from as Crawford then closed in for the kill (which he does as well as any fighter alive).
I said before this fight began that Crawford would have to put on a clinic in order to be taken seriously for a unification bout with Errol Spence Jr or a high profile fight with 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao. But now I am wondering if that same clinic T-Bud dropped on us tonight will now scare both of those gentlemen away.
It took Errol Spence 11 Rounds to knock out Kell Brook and it took GGG only 5 (albeit at a heavier weight class vs Gennady)… Crawford did it in 4, and his close-out of Brook was more masterful than either of Brook's previous 2 victorious opponents.
I can certainly see the Pacquiao fight coming together in 2021, but unfortunately, I can also see other champions within the welterweight division continue to duck Crawford… Meaning the only opponent that will eventually end T-Bud's run will be Father Time.
Looking ahead, there are no marquee matchups in the ring for the rest of this month outside of the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr "fight" the Saturday after Thanksgiving. However, December is littered with good matchups across all weight classes, and I look forward to bothering you with unreadable blogs right into the new year.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Take a report.
-Large