September 14, Fightweek Canelo vs. Crawford, Diary #5: A day full of boxing highlights in Las Vegas – and a historic win for “Bud”!
The Box Fan Expo in the Convention Center attracts hundreds of fans at lunchtime, who get to see their idols up close, collect autographs and cheer on the youngsters in the ring. The youngsters are particularly impressive: Eight-year-olds step into the ring with remarkable confidence – an expression of the deeply rooted US boxing culture. In the USA, there is a “Prep Boxers” program for girls and boys aged 8 to 14.
In the Allegiant Stadium, Japan’s super talent Reito Tsutsumi opened the Prelims in spectacular fashion: a T.K.O. in the first round (2:18) against Javier Martínez left the arena shaking. In the heavyweight division, Franklin wins on points over Dychko. And Boahchuk vs Adams is, as expected, a head-to-head fight in which the two fighters give each other nothing. Non-stop action: Adams wins again – only this time on points. Bohachuk is simply too one-dimensional and he literally invites Adams to land his heavy hands. When I ask him at the post-fight press conference when he knew he had his opponent, Adams replies: “From the moment I realized he was flinching when I landed my body shots.” In between fights I enjoy chatting with my UK colleague Gareth A Davies.
Lots of action on the undercard
The main card, broadcast live on Netflix, begins with Saudi Mohammad Alakel, who goes over ten rounds against the tough Travis Crawford and ultimately wins clearly on points, but has a hard time at the back. This is followed by the fireworks between Christian Mbilli and Lester Martínez: a merciless pace over the full distance, the crowd celebrates both – the verdict ends in a fair split draw. Callum Walsh impressed in the co-main event, clearly outpointing Fernando Vargas Jr. after ten rounds.
Then the highlight: Canelo Álvarez against Terence “Bud” Crawford. The atmosphere at the walk-in is electrifying. The mariachi and Michael Buffer bring the stadium to the boil. But Crawford quickly takes control in the ring. After a tentative first round, he dictates the action from round two onwards. His precise jab opens all doors, Canelo looks sluggish and is quickly frustrated. The Mexican’s rare clear hits do not change the overall picture: Crawford has an answer for everything. After twelve rounds, history is written: Crawford wins unanimously on points (116-112, 2x 115-113) (in my opinion the verdict is far too close and should have been clearer) and is crowned the undisputed super middleweight champion. This makes him the first boxer in the four-belt era to become undisputed champion in three weight classes – light-welterweight, welterweight and now super-middleweight. With this masterstroke at the Allegiant Stadium, Terence “Bud” Crawford has finally written himself into the history books.
