By Keith Idec
Terence Crawford wasn’t surprised by Viktor Postol’s impressive victory over Lucas Matthysse.
He predicted Postol would win that October 3 bout in Carson, California, which Postol won by 10th-round knockout. The unbeaten WBO super lightweight champion was surprised, however, by how much holding and elbowing Postol was allowed to do that night by referee Jack Reiss.
“I feel he did a lot of excessive holding and using his elbows, that the ref didn’t warn him about,” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) said during a recent conference call.
When asked how concerned he is about Ukraine’s Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) getting away with those tactics Saturday night, Crawford added, “That’s not my problem, to be concerned about it, because it’s a fight. I just hope the referee notices it and does what he has to do to take [charge] in the fight, and make sure those type of things don’t happen during the whole fight.”
The Nevada State Athletic Commission has assigned Tony Weeks, one of boxing’s most experienced referees in high-profile fights, to officiate the Crawford-Postol showdown Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena (HBO Pay-Per-View; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; $59.99 in HD; $54.95 in SD).
While he doesn’t approve of Postol’s questionable methods, Crawford doesn’t “consider him dirty. I consider him doing whatever he has to do to win. He’s trying to do whatever he has to do to win, and I can’t fault him for that. But some things are not allowed. And some referees let you do more than others.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing
