By Keith Idec
With Viktor Postol’s training camp coming toward its end, Freddie Roach is convinced his fighter is going to knock off undefeated Terence Crawford on July 23 in Las Vegas.
Ukraine’s Postol (28-0, 12 KOs), the WBC super lightweight title-holder, is coming off a career-changing knockout victory over powerful Lucas Matthysse nine months ago, yet is nearly a 5-1 underdog as his championship unification showdown with Crawford approaches.
Roach can’t quite understand why handicappers have installed Crawford as such a heavy favorite in their HBO Pay-Per-View main event at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Postol’s legendary trainer thinks his fighter has numerous advantages over Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs), the WBO super lightweight champion from Omaha, Nebraska.
“Viktor’s got a height advantage and a little bit of a reach advantage,” Roach said Thursday during a conference call. “He sets up things really well with his left hand. He’s a complete fighter. He trains really hard. He comes here [to Wild Card Boxing Club] with me for eight weeks at a time. We get along very well. We work well together.
“He boxed the other day. I thought he was peaking. He’s ready for the fight and he’s in great, great shape. I think this is a good opportunity. I think that maybe they’re underestimating us a little bit, but they’ll pay for that.”
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.
