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Crawford vs. Postol: 3 Keys to Victory for Viktor Postol

WBC Super lightweight champion Viktor “The Iceman” Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) will take on WBO Super lightweight champ Terence “Bud” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) in a unification bout Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Both men have undefeated records and both are looking to keep it that way.

Crawford emerged as a star by winning the lightweight title fighting Ricky Burns and then knocking out the previously undefeated Yuriorkis Gamboa. Then last year, Crawford became a two-division world champion by knocking out Thomas Dulorme and stopping yet another opponent, Dierry Jean in October.

While Crawford started a trend for himself–beating good fighters with astonishing ease; Postol has begun to make a name for himself fighting under trainer Freddie Roach.

In three fights with Roach, Postol has stopped two of his opponents, the most notable and one of the biggest knockouts of 2015 against Lucas Matthysse–earning himself the vacant WBC title at 140-pounds.

Crawford vs. Postol will determine a lot–who is king of the 140-pound division as well as who will likely be regarded as a top-10 pound-for-pound star.

This is a 50-50 fight–with both fighters having the skill set and ring IQ to come out victorious.

Keep reading for the three keys to victory for Viktor “The Iceman” Postol.

1. Freddie Roach

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Viktor Postol has continually been praising trainer Freddie Roach leading up to this fight and trusts that his work with Roach will play a key role in his fight against Crawford.

“I’m 100% confident in myself and in my victory on July 23 and the reasons are simple. I work harder in training camp than my opponents because I have to. Because I want to. I have the best trainer working with me and his name his Freddie Roach. He has been named Trainer of the Year a record seven times and he is in the Hall of Fame. Crawford has no one like that on his team,” said Postol (via Boxing News Online).

Since training with Roach, Postol has knocked out two of the three opponents he has faced–Lucas Matthysse and Selcuk Aydin.

Postol has passed every test thus far in his professional career, and he believes that with the “best teacher in boxing” – he will pass his next test on July 23 with flying colors.

2. Maximize His Length and Reach

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Standing 5’11” and blessed with a 73½” reach, Viktor Postol is tall and long for a super lightweight. He is both the taller fighter and has a reach advantage going into Saturday night’s fight against Terence Crawford.

Postol needs to utilize his length in this fight to come out victorious. Postol has the technical expertise to use his length to keep Crawford out of rhythm.

With his reach advantage, he needs to use his jab effectively to keep Crawford on the outside, where he will be able to set up his straight right hand.

Using length to his advantage will be key to keeping Crawford at a distance, allowing Postol can control the pace of the fight.

3. Sit Down on Punches

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It seems as though Viktor Postol has shown improved power in recent fights, most notably knocking out Lucas Matthysse in October of last year.

Postol needs to focus on generating power, doing so by sitting down on his punches. “The Iceman” has no chance in this fight unless he can make Terence Crawford respect his power.

Sitting down on his punches will most likely open himself up to take some of Crawford’s return shots, so he also cannot forget about returning to good defensive position.