Terence Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) stopped Jeff Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs) in the ninth round of their WBO title fight Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Crawford is now the WBO Welterweight champion of the world and joins Errol Spence and Keith Thurman as a 147-pound titleholder.
Crawford started in the southpaw stance from the first bell of the fight. This was something to note as he usually starts orthodox and switches to southpaw when he is ready to pounce on an opponent.
The fight started off as most expected it would. The first round had little-to-no action, as Crawford was feeling out Horn.
Round 2 showed a little more action as the two started to trade punches and let their hands go. The fight had a level of tension that could be cut with a knife. Both fighters were a little stiff and there was a lot of holding and wrestling early on.
Round 3 was the turning point in the fight. Crawford showcased his pinpoint accuracy and turned up the number of punches thrown. Crawford landed 26 of 54 punches in the third round and it was clear he found his rhythm.
Crawford’s straight left hand was the punch to knock Horn down in the ninth round. The stoppage came shortly after the knockdown as Crawford unleashed a barrage of punches to end the fight. Crawford landed 155 of 367 punches in the fight with a 42 percent accuracy rate.
“I’m strong, y’all didn’t believe me, I was way stronger than him,” stated Crawford in the post-fight interview.
When asked what he wanted to tell the other opponents in the division, Crawford was adamant about his arrival in the Welterweight division. “We here you know, the power came up, physicality got stronger,” said Crawford.
Horn made no excuses for his loss. “I thought I could beat him coming forward, but he clipped me too much,” said the former WBO titleholder. “[I will] rebuild from here, talk to the team.”
Crawford will use this momentum to fight the best in the division. “[I want] other champions, other big fights, Bob make it happen,” said Crawford.
Photos by Mikey Williams/Top Rank
