Terence Crawford: record, next fight and profile →
Like many people in boxing, Terence Crawford didn’t know Julius Indongo existed this time a year ago. Crawford already owned the WBC and WBO super lightweight titles, was a two-division champion and was considered one of the best boxers in the world. Indongo was an anonymous Namibian, unbeaten but unknown outside of his small home country in western Africa.
On this coming Saturday at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska, the boxing world is about to witness something special. Fellow unbeaten unified titlists Terence Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) and Julius Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs) are facing off in an old-school undisputed world championship fight that means all four major sanctioning body belts, namely the WBC/WBA/WBO/IBF are on the table.
Most boxing fans want to see Terence Crawford move up to welterweight to fight Errol Spence Jr. or Keith Thurman. It is more likely, of course, for Spence and Thurman to fight each other first. Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs, 1 NC), the WBA/WBC welterweight champion from Clearwater, Florida, is recovering from elbow surgery and won’t return to the ring until sometime early in 2018.
Top Rank executives and matchmakers have repeatedly stated that Terence Crawford has never turned down an opponent. Whether we’ll see him eventually make a title defense against Sergey Lipinets remains unclear, though. First, obviously, Crawford must defeat unbeaten Julius Indongo in their 140-pound title unification fight Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is crossing his fingers that eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao retires from boxing. The 38 year old veteran suffered a shock decision loss last month at the hands of huge underdog Jeff Horn at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.
Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo have the rare opportunity to own each of the four widely recognized world titles in their weight class. The 140-pound title-holders will pay plenty, though, for the chance to become a fully unified champion in the super lightweight division. BoxingScene.com has learned that Crawford, the WBC and WBO champion, and Indongo, the IBF and WBA champion, will pay more than $100,000 apiece in sanctioning fees from their undisclosed seven-figure purses to fight for those four world titles August 19 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska (ESPN).
Terence Crawford’s trainer doesn’t think the unbeaten 140-pound champion Crawford will face August 19 is as good as the undefeated super lightweight title-holder Crawford dominated last summer. When asked over the weekend in Los Angeles if Julius Indongo is better than Viktor Postol, Brian McIntyre told BoxingScene.com, “No, no. F***, no. Hell, no. F***, no. Postol beat some good guys. You know what I’m saying? But we ready, though.”
Terence Crawford, who holds the WBC, WBO, Ring junior welterweight titles, believes he's one victory away from taking the throne of being the best pound-for-pound boxer in the sport. Crawford will face another undefeated boxer in the coming weeks, Julius Indongo, in a very historic contest. Indongo holds the WBA, IBF, IBO junior welterweight titles. Indongo has a record of 22 wins and 12 by knockout.
Brian McIntyre Video Interview - TERENCE "Bud" CRAWFORD returns to the ring in August. Crawford will risk his WBO, World Boxing Council (WBC) and Ring magazine world titles against undefeated International Boxing Federation (IBF), International Boxing Organization (IBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion Julius Indongo in a battle of undefeated 140-pound world champions. Crawford vs. Indongo will take place Saturday, August 19, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Julius Indongo Video Interview - TERENCE "Bud" CRAWFORD returns to the ring in August. Crawford will risk his WBO, World Boxing Council (WBC) and Ring magazine world titles against undefeated International Boxing Federation (IBF), International Boxing Organization (IBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion Julius Indongo in a battle of undefeated 140-pound world champions. Crawford vs. Indongo will take place Saturday, August 19, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.