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What a difference a year makes.
Prior to his lightweight title fight versus Ricky Burns, Terence Crawford was viewed as a rising talent but the jury was still out on whether or not he’d soon run with the sport’s elite. A trio of HBO-televised wins put the unbeaten boxer on the map, although the last of the lot – a disinteresting 10-round decision win over Andrey Klimov – last October hardly resonated with the boxing public.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving weekend 2014, and the fighting pride of Omaha, Nebraska has transformed into a major draw in his hometown – where he’d never previously fought as a pro – and on HBO. He has a belt in tow, came up aces in one of the best fights of the year, and is now one win away from making a strong case for consideration as 2014’s Fighter of the Year.
Of course, a difficult task still awaits Crawford, who faces tough-as-nails Raymundo Beltran this weekend at home in Omaha, Nebraska. The winner of the scheduled 12-round clash – which airs live on HBO (Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET) - will gain recognition by BoxingScene.com as the World lineal lightweight champion, a crown that has been unclaimed since Juan Manuel Marquez officially severed all ties from the lightweight division in 2012.
A win by Crawford will mean so much more. [Click Here To Read More]
Prior to his lightweight title fight versus Ricky Burns, Terence Crawford was viewed as a rising talent but the jury was still out on whether or not he’d soon run with the sport’s elite. A trio of HBO-televised wins put the unbeaten boxer on the map, although the last of the lot – a disinteresting 10-round decision win over Andrey Klimov – last October hardly resonated with the boxing public.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving weekend 2014, and the fighting pride of Omaha, Nebraska has transformed into a major draw in his hometown – where he’d never previously fought as a pro – and on HBO. He has a belt in tow, came up aces in one of the best fights of the year, and is now one win away from making a strong case for consideration as 2014’s Fighter of the Year.
Of course, a difficult task still awaits Crawford, who faces tough-as-nails Raymundo Beltran this weekend at home in Omaha, Nebraska. The winner of the scheduled 12-round clash – which airs live on HBO (Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET) - will gain recognition by BoxingScene.com as the World lineal lightweight champion, a crown that has been unclaimed since Juan Manuel Marquez officially severed all ties from the lightweight division in 2012.
A win by Crawford will mean so much more. [Click Here To Read More]
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