Kell Brook was standing in his corner, a bit dazed, a few minutes after his fight ended Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas when he asked his cornerman, “What happened?” Terence Crawford happened.
The welterweight titleholder started slowly, trying to figure out how to get to his experienced opponent from England. And then, in an instant, he got it. He landed a sort of jab-hook with his right hand that sent Brook staggering into the ropes. A few moments later, after a barrage of punches from a killer closer, it was all over.
Knockout, Round 4. Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound, who now has eight consecutive stoppages, retains his belt and his throne.
The first few rounds of the fight were uneventful, although Brook was able to land a number of sharp jabs against Crawford, who started in an orthodox stance. Neither fighter landed a memorable power shot in the first three rounds.
Brook might’ve won two of those rounds but, in reality, nothing had happened to that point.
Then, with Crawford in his natural southpaw stance, Brook’s jab output slowed down, Crawford became a little more aggressive and, BAM! The big right hurt Brook and sent him flying across the ring. Crawford immediately pounced, landing a few more hand punches, before referee Tony Weeks jumped between them to rule a knockdown.
Brook was able to continue but Crawford unloaded one final punishing barrage that prompted Weeks to save the challenger from more punishment. The official time was 1:14 of Round 4.
“I was trying to gauge the distance,” Crawford said. “He had good distance. I was trying to get my distance together. That’s why it was so competitive early in the fight. I couldn’t get my shots off.
“… [Then] I stepped forward a little, threw a little more punches but not too much, and I caught him a couple of times.”
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) hadn’t fought since December of last year, when he stopped Egidijus Kavaliauskas in nine rounds. He was hoping to make his comeback against fight Manny Pacquiao but had to settle for Brook, a former 147-pound titleholder whose best days seemed to be behind him.
“Bud” demonstrated why he was a heavy favorite.
“Kell Brook is an enormous talent,” he said. “I can’t take nothing away from him. He tried to take my title. He was in shape, he made weight. So there were no excuses to put on the table. He was coming off three wins, not coming off a loss.
“So he had his confidence up. He just lost to a better man tonight.”
Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) did, indeed, enter the fight with confidence. He had stopped each of his last three opponents, all of them second-tier, since back-to-back knockout losses against Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. and he felt good physically.
And for three-plus rounds it seemed as if his confidence was justified. Then, before he was able to land a truly meaningful punch, the fight was over. What could he say?
“This is boxing,” he said. “I obviously got caught with a punch that I didn’t see. The referee waved it off. … The referee obviously seen that I couldn’t continue. So the fight is over.
“I don’t like to lose on an injury. I’d rather lose on my shield. The better man won tonight.”
Crawford was asked afterward who he wants to fight next and he produced a quick answer: Pacquiao.
Bob Arum, standing next to Crawford for the post-fight interviews, said an agreement was reached for Crawford and Pacquiao to fight around this time in the an unnamed Middle Eastern country but the plans gave way to COVID-19.
Arum added that he recently spoke to an investor from that mystery country and was told that interest in staging the fight remains strong.
“He said, ‘If Terence is successful, I want to resume talks,’” Arum said. “We’ll see if we can do it in the spring, either before or after Ramadan [which runs from April 12 to May 11].”
Crawford’s immediate future is anything but clear. Speculation has it that the Brook fight was Crawford’s last with Arum’s Top Rank, although the fighter has declined to discuss his contract with the company.
If Crawford is a free agent, he can pursue a deal with Premier Boxing Champions, with which most of his top rivals are affiliated. That includes Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr., who many believe is the top 147-pounder.
“We’ll see,” he told BoxingScene.com this week.
Only one thing seems to be certain at the moment: Crawford remains one of the top few fighters in the world.
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