Terence Crawford Improves to 34-0 with Knockout Victory

by
Former Writers
October 14, 2018

Terence Crawford Improves to 34-0 with Knockout Victory

In his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, Terence Crawford kept his unbeaten streak alive with a 12th round knockout victory over Jose Benavidez, Jr. The win gives Crawford his 34th straight, along with retaining his World Boxing Organization (WBO) World Welterweight Championship.

Crawford won the belt off of Jeff Horn during his last fight in early-June, as Horn was the one to take the same belt off of legend Manny Pacquiao. The victory also marked Crawford’s 25th career knockout (KO), including his seventh KO in his last 10 fights. The evening’s ‘cherry on top’ was the fact that Crawford won in his hometown, as it was his first fight back in Omaha since December of 2016.

And that's it!! Crawford closes the show with a huge knockdown on an uppercut and than batters Benavidez until the ref stops it! Sensational performance! And still! https://t.co/LhuBqEfqwl

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) October 14, 2018

An Eventual Knockout

It wasn’t easy for Crawford to seal his second straight win via a KO, as Benavidez, Jr. took various combinations all night long but lasted 12 rounds. The biggest number that stood out on the stat sheet was the number of power punches landed by both fighters. Crawford saw 131 of his power punches land while Benavidez, Jr. only generated 64.

The power punches and the number of combinations were the main catalysts for Crawford’s eventual KO win. Benavidez, Jr. saw some solid punches, especially to the body, early on in the match. Crawford, however, saw at least one three-punch combination each round which ate away at the challenger all evening.

A Star in the Making

Prior to the fight, U.S. Olympic medalist Shakur Stevenson saw a bout of his own. Stevenson entered the fight on an eight-fight winning streak, undefeated in his young but impressive career. Stevenson also entered the bout with a silver medal from the 2016 Olympics Game in Rio de Janiero.

The 21-year-old from Newark, New Jersey impressively won his match, with a clean first-round KO against Romanian Viorel Simion. Stevenson actually knocked Simion to the mat a total of three times; but third times a charm, as the referee waved the fight off with Simion trying to hold himself up with the ropes.