February 27, 2016 Terence Crawford vs. Henry Lundy at Madison Square Garden Theater, New York, New York the the WBO World super lightweight title
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Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KO) defended his junior welterweight title successfully when he stopped Henry Lundy (26-6-1, 13 KO) in the 5th round at the sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden in NY city.
Both the pugilists appeared agitated and prepared to mix it up from the very beginning of the bout. Although Crawford switched over from orthodox to southpaw beforehand, it was actually Henry Lundy who connected with the wider, harder shots initially.
Crawford started to time his rival’s pouncing attacks in the 2nd round. The champ went on building momentum in the 3rd as well as 4th rounds, utilizing his jabs to generate power shots with increasing efficiency. In the 5th round, Crawford dumbfounded Lundy with several big left hands, which knocked the Philadelphian to the floor. Even though Lundy managed to beat the count, he was visibly hurt. The champ pounced and wailed away in the corner and referee Steve Willis had to stop the fight.
The uneven match-up should not take away from the dominance of Crawford, though. This 28-year-old pugilist from Omaha has a lot of talent, is an expert both on the attack as well as in defense, and hasn’t yet showed any significant flaws. He fought a weaker rival and eventually overpowered him, as expected.
Now, Crawford’s biggest challenge is not any particular boxer, so much getting anybody who can aid him to improve his identity in the ring.
Crawford does not lack entertainment value or talent. However, he is yet to attain stardom globally. Still, a climb to 147 would definitely open the doors with the likes of Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Adrien Broner and even Danny Garcia.
After the bout, Ruslan Provodnikov was mentioned by Bob Arum as a possible rival for Crawford. While that bout would definitely provide the fireworks, it looks like a risky, low-reward fight which would benefit the supporters more than Terence Crawford’s stocks.
Interestingly, in the pre-fight build-up, Lundy asserted that the unconquered Ukrainian Viktor Postol is superior to Crawford. However, one thing is for sure from this bout between Terence Crawford vs Henry Lundy – the trajectory of Terence Crawford is all the way up.
