3. Mauricio Herrera (21-5-0, 7 KOs)
Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
Yes, I understand Mauricio Herrera lost two out of three of his fights in 2014. His first loss was against lineal super lightweight champion Danny Garcia in March, then to young gun Jose Benavidez in December. Ironically he looked very good in both losses.
In fact, many boxing fans and writers had Herrera winning both of those fights only to be robbed on the scorecards.
This would be a good first test for Terence Crawford at 140 pounds. Herrera is a tough-as-nails, straight-ahead boxer who’ll grind with Crawford, but lacks real threatening knockout power.
Crawford’s defense is much sharper than that of Garcia or Benavidez. He’d be able to turn out of tough situations against Herrera, keeping himself off the ropes and out of corners.
It’s reasonable to imagine this fight being similar to his contest with Beltran, superior defense and boxing from the outside being the factor.
It’s a bit of a safe play, but would serve as a great learning tool for Crawford and a win would certainly earn him some respect moving forward in the super lightweight division.
