Crawford and Valdez dominate in Top Rank HBO PPV from MGM Grand

Foto Credito: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (21-0) met Viktor ‘The Iceman’ Postol (20-1) in a highly anticipated junior welterweight unification championship match from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as the headliner to the summer’s Top Rank PPV on HBO. ‎On the line were undefeated records and two belts; Postol’s WBC green belt and Crawford’s WBO strap.

For the first couple of rounds in the 140-pound unification bout which saw a very pro-Crawford crowd inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, fans were treated to a high stakes chess match and what some would refer to as a, ‘feeling out’ process. Not much action took place with allot of circling ‎and feints polluting the ring but what was apparent was that Crawford’s hand speed and footwork would be the difference maker in the 12 rounds of the affair. The next two rounds saw both men start to open up more and more, barely missing ‎with power shots as Postol pointed his guard out in a Juan Marquez-type stance at times and came in with a straight shots while ‘Bud’ turned and threw a counter hook to go over his man’s jab.

Seconds into Round 5 the two met in the middle of the ring and Crawford landed a looping right hand to the side of the head of the Ukraine native that made him twirl off balance then take a knee on the canvas. Postol beat the referee’s count but was on unsteady legs and Crawford let his hands ‎go as he chased him across the ring shortly thereafter clocking him with a straight left hand to the chin that hurt Postol. The Omaha, Nebraska representative then hit him on the head with a pawing follow up right hand sending Postol to the canvas once again. He survived the round and made it out alive but that’s about as good as it got for the recent father of twins. For all we know he was seeing double in the ring because Crawford had timed him, slipped his shots and couldn’t miss with the jab or left hook while Postol came up short or walked into his foe’s crisp and steady jab.

For the second half of the fight Crawford ‎had researched his foe’s movement so sound and alertly that he was two steps ahead of Postol even if he was moving backwards during the final 18 minutes of the title bout. Crawford circled to his right, unloaded his over hand right, caught Postol clean then slid out of trouble. The previously undefeated champ had no answer for Crawford’s movement and footwork and even his trainer, Freddie Roach, admitted post-fight that the speed of ‘Bud’ was a problem for Postol. After a few warnings had already taken place in the match for a foul, things got to a fever pitch when following a clinch Postol landed another blatant shot to the back of Crawford’s head and was deducted a point in the 11th Round by Tony Weeks. Maybe Postol was mad that his opponent had just walked him into a beautiful 1-2 combination just moments earlier. Going into the 12th and final round Crawford could have cruised to a decision win but he walked Postol down, smacked him some good lefts and rights, blasted him with a straight shot that staggered him and got a standing ovation from the crowd as the battle came to a close.

Once the judge’s read the score cards it was academic, Terence Crawford had ‎won the bout with scores of 118-107, 118-107 and 117-108. He handed Viktor Postol his first career loss but The Iceman’ isn’t melting completely and will be back as soon as the end of the year. For Crawford, he gets to reap the fruits of his labor as he is now the owner of the WBO, WBC and The Ring magazine championships.

VALDEZ’ BODY WORK ENDS RUEDA IN 2 ‎TO CLAIM WBO STRAP

Oscar Valdez Jr improved to (21-0) tonight with his masterful performance over Matias Rueda (26-1) to claim the vacant WBO featherweight strap. The match started it as a lopsided sparring match with Valdez’ lightning quick and powerful hooks getting past the guard of the Argentina native minute after minute during the 1st Round without and backlash.

In the 2nd Round, Rueda was forced to take a knee with about one minute left in the round off of a picture perfect left hook from Valdez that landed flush to the body. The Argentine beat the count and marched forward but immediately ate a short left hook, followed by an overhand right then another picture perfect left hook from Valdez that sent him to the canvas for a second time. Referee Russell Mora had seen enough and crouched over next to the fallen warrior who was kneeled down in pain and mercifully waived off the action.

The official time of the stoppage came at (2:18) of Round 2 for the newly minted WBO Featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez Jr, as he nabs the KO win and championship belt in style. ‎In attendance at the post-fight press conference were Valdez’ parents who proudly talked to the media about their son’s dream to become a world champion since the age of 8 years old and how excited they were to see him reach that goal less than 20 years later.
BENAVIDEZ REMAINS UNBEATEN WITH POINTS WIN OVER SANTANA

Jose Benavidez Jr (25-0) started off very strong, very fast and landing multiple combinations along the ropes as well as the middle of the ring on his opponent in a very Jessie Vargas-style work rate for the first half of the match. He operated behind his usual high volume, come-forward approach ‎that is extremely fan friendly and fun to watch. For the first few rounds Francisco Santana (24-5-1) just covered up and let his man go to work teeing off on whatever opening he had, be it just around the guard of his man or beating up his elbows and forearms constantly in back to back barrages of action. The Arizona native made the adjustment also as the rounds came to the halfway mark to throw a few uppercuts down the middle, this move not only opened his man’s guard up again but also snapped Santana’s head straight up from the assault.

Similar to the current WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas, ‎Benavidez started fading into the last few rounds of the battle. This gave Santana an opportunity to press him along the ropes and bury his head into his chest then work the body with hooks and uppercuts at close quarters. The offense looked and was giving Francisco ‘Chia’ Santana the time needed to bank some rounds but it was too little too late as he had fallen way down on the score cards in order to create a come from behind come back.

Once the 10 rounds were up the judges had Jose Benavidez Jr winning with scores of 100-90, 96-94, and 98-92 granting the Phoenix, Arizona native a unanimous decision victory.
GVOZDYK GETS DROPPED THEN RALLIES TO FINISH KARPENCY

Olesandr Gvozdyk (11-0) showed true heart, poise and patience in order to get the mid-round stoppage tonight as he saw the canvas early courtesy of a sneaky over hand right from Tommy Karpency (26-6-1) in their light heavyweight bout. The Adah, PA native caught his man flush during an exchange in the 1st Round following a lazy punch from Gvozdyk that left him open for the counter shot. The Ukraine heavy hitter never saw it coming since his man was bent over following the exchange and threw the loopy shot from the hip. As soon as it landed the stunned Ukraine native stumbled backwards unto the canvas in a shocking turn of events, to say the least.

However, he beat the 8-count and from there began to systematically break down his foe pushing forward with hard straight shots to the head and body and doubling up on his power punches. He walked Karpency down who had little resistance to his opponent’s offense while standing in the pocket or backing up. The Pennsylvania native’s shots seeemed to have little to no steam on them as rounds 4 and 5 progressed and his nose was busted open probably from some hard Gvozdyk uppercuts that landed in those rounds. Going into Round 6, Gvozdyk pressed forward working his combos, hit his man with a clean right to his injured if not broken nose then followed up with a straight to the body. Karpency reacted late, he took the shot, paused then turned and took a knee. The referee came over to start the count and Tommy Karpency just stared at the canvas then glanced around with a blank look as the bout was called off seeing as he didn’t have much of an answer to the Ukraine fighter’s arsenal and was beaten down physically and mentally.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk stops Tommy Karpency ‎via KO at (2:21) of Round 6 in the opening bout of the HBO PPV.