Photo by Lawrence Lustig
Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KOs) has had one hell of a year. From traveling to Glasgow, Scotland and dethroning the hometown champion Ricky Burns in March, to making a triumphant return home to Omaha, Nebraska and blasting undefeated Yuriorkis Gamboa in June, it’s safe to say Crawford has officially arrived.
It’s remarkable to think that a little over one year ago, not many people even knew who Crawford was in the Lightweight division, let alone all of boxing. Although he had an impressive amateur career which included gold medal victories at the 2006 National PAL Championships, the 2006 Blue & Gold National Championships and the 2007 U.S. Pan American Games Box-Offs; as well as victories over Danny Garcia and Mikey Garcia, Crawford was not signed as a can’t miss prospect from the moment he turned pro.
In fact, it wasn’t until he stepped in as a late replacement against hard-hitting Colombian Breidis Prescott in March of 2013 on HBO that Crawford began to pop up on peoples radar as a serious talent.
Against Prescott, “Bud” turned in a dominant 10-round performance, rendering the power puncher ineffective.
Fast forward to present day and Crawford is undoubtedly one of the sports top champions and has even stated an interest in making a jump to 140 pounds to face bigger names, including Top Rank stablemate, Manny Pacquiao.
But first things first. On Saturday, November 29, Crawford returns home to the CenturyLink Center in Omaha to take on No. 1 contender, Ray Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs). Beltran actually made the trip to Glasgow before Crawford did, but after turning in a spirited performance against Burns–which many onlookers thought would earn him the title–the fight was ruled a draw.
Things have never been easy for Beltran, and with his second shot at the WBO title coming in front of another hostile crowd partisan crowd, he’ll have to be on his A game to succeed.
“I see this fight as an opportunity for me to achieve the recognition in the boxing world and the public’s eye,” said Beltran during the opening press conference.
The prevailing thought here is that while Beltran is a hungry and worth challenger, the talent gap is just too large for him to overcome. Crawford will be precise and versatile in his attack and further solidify his spot among the other top talents in boxing.
If things go Crawford’s way on Saturday night, he puts himself in serious contention for Fighter of the Year honors and opens up the possibility for bigger matchups at 140 pounds in 2015.
