Crawford unifies WBC, WBO titles
SEEKS MEGABUCK SHOWDOWN WITH PACQUIAO
LAS VEGAS – Terence Crawford was so sure of his victory Saturday night that he spent part of the final round with his hands at his side, taunting Viktor Postol.
What he’s not so sure of is that Manny Pacquiao will agree to his terms and fight him at 140 pounds in November.
“It will be at 140, definitely,” Crawford said. “But I’m going on vacation now. We’re not worried about Manny Pacquiao right now.”
Crawford turned in a dominating performance Saturday night in a battle of unbeaten champions, knocking Postol down twice on his way to a lopsided 12- round unanimous decision to put himself in the running for a fight with Pacquiao – who has fought most recently at 147 pounds – in November.
Crawford took control of the 140-pound title unification fight with two knockdowns in the fifth round, and then shut down Postol the rest of the way. He was so far ahead in the 12th round that he put his arms down at his side at one point, taunting Postol.
Both fighters came into the bout with titles and records of 28-0. But Crawford was clearly the best technical fighter, despite giving away significant height and reach advantage to the Ukrainian.
Crawford won 118- 107 on two ringside scorecards, and 117- 108 on the third.
The Associated Press had him winning 118-107.
“Postol is a great champion and he was undefeated for a reason,” Crawford said. “We got the job done tonight.”
Crawford, who has won all seven of his title fights, was impressive in spurts as he controlled the fight from the early rounds on. He dropped Postol with the first punch of the fifth round, then dropped him again later in the round after battering him across the ring with a big left hand.