By Keith Idec
By the time Terence Crawford steps into the ring June 9 to face Jeff Horn, he won’t have fought in nearly 10 months.
That’ll be the longest layoff of Crawford’s career, which began in March 2008. The former super lightweight and lightweight champion’s lengthiest period of inactivity before now was seven months, from September 2011 until April 2012.
Crawford hasn’t fought since he demolished Julius Indongo in their 140-pound title unification fight August 19 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Omaha, Nebraska, native was supposed to challenge Horn for the Australian champion’s WBO welterweight title April 14 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Their 12-round, 147-pound championship match was postponed almost two months because Crawford suffered a deep bone bruise on the top of his right hand during training. While Crawford was disappointed to postpone a fight for the first time in his career, he views this extended break as a positive because it has made him feel refreshed.
“It gives your body time to heal,” Crawford told BoxingScene.com. “Some people tend to keep fighting and fighting and fighting, pushing their body to the limit. And then, the next thing you know, your body breaks down and you start having a lot of injuries and a lot of aches and pains. So I’ve just taken it as maybe my body needed that rest because I have been going hard and have been fighting very often and frequently.”
The 30-year-old Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) has been one of boxing’s most active champions since he won the WBO lightweight championship from Scotland’s Ricky Burns four years ago in Glasgow. He fought nine times over the next three years and four months, which Crawford credits for helping keep him so sharp.
Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) made an optional title defense December 13, when he knocked out England’s Gary Corcoran (17-2, 7 KOs) in the 11th round in Brisbane. Crawford doesn’t expect Horn’s more recent activity to play much of a factor when they square off a week from Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+).
“Being active, of course it keeps you sharp, being that you’re in the ring more often,” Crawford said. “But I feel that I’ve got the ability and the skill and the mindset to adjust to not being in the ring for such a long time and I’ll make the best of it.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.