After a short break we are back with a short but very sweet fight from November 2020.
In this fight one of the pound for pound top 3 boxers in the world and current WBO Welterweight champion Terrence Crawford met former IBF Welterweight champion Kell Brook in Las Vegas.
Crawford had been on a run of stoppage wins going on 7 fights cementing his place in the pound for pound list. Brook had rebounded from back to back losses to win four straight fights to set up this mouthwatering contest. This fight took place in a near empty venue as the pandemic was still raging at this time.
Round 1 saw Crawford come out orthadox, him being that rare boxer that can fight out of each stance as well as the other. Both came out very respectful of their opponent with over 30 seconds passing before a punch was thrown. Both probed, feinted and gauged reactions neither wanting to make a mistake so early in a fight of this importance. As the round moved on Brook began to land his jab with regularity while Crawford’s seemed to be falling short. With about twenty seconds to go in the round Crawford pressed forward with a right hand lead to the body and immediately switched southpaw having got Brook to the ropes. From here he threw out a series of jabs followed by a right hook left cross before switching back to southpaw. Immediately Brook feinted a jab and caught Crawford with a short clean left hook before they both looked to land their back hands. Brook’s round.
Round 2 saw Crawford start out again in an orthadox stance. Both fighters were still probing with their jabs looking to find openings and gauge distance. Crawford started to test Brook’s jab by slipping inside it and then looking to counter with combinations. As the round went on the constant shifting of Crawford’s head position was noticeable in contrast to Brook’s who was more stationary. Crawford seemed more relaxed and was moving fluidly as he constantly adjusted his position opposed to Brook’s tightly sprung looking to explode posture. With just under a minute to go Brook stepped in with a sharp jab cross combination, Crawford again went to the inside slip and fired back a sharp 3 punch combination which noticeably started with a shot to the body. Not long after that Crawford switched southpaw and began to paw with his now lead right hand blocking the path of Brook’s sharp jab. After a brief period of jabbing from both boxers Brook fired in a right hand lead that was slipped by Crawford and again countered with a shot to the body. The fight was playing out as the boxer/puncher versus the boxer. I gave this round to Brook on activity and jabs landed but it was a close round.
Round 3 saw Crawford stick to southpaw and look to block the path of Brook’s jab and score with his own. Crawford was starting to get busy with his jab now doubling it up and starting to dictate the tempo. Brook’s reaction was to fire counter right hands to both head and body, Crawford would look to fire his own counters to the body when Brook countered to the head. Crawford was seemingly targeting the right eye of Brook with his jab and landing with regularity, if the distance was too great he would fire the left straight first to cover distance and then fire a jab to the same eye. Midway through the round Brook threw a double right hand that caught Crawford with his back to the corner, immediately Crawford after taking those shots pivoted right and jabbed and hooked Brook into the corner. A pattern was emerging, Brook’s right hand versus the southpaw jab of Crawford, both were having success. As the round drew to a close Crawford was having success firing the back hand and then throwing long sweeping hooks, he was building on his southpaw jab and employing his reach advantage well. This was another close round but I gave it to Crawford, his subtle feints, southpaw jab and ring generalship was edging it for me.
Round 4 saw Crawford pawing and feinting with his long southpaw jab continuously, his activity was building and his fluid movement was drawing Brook in. Crawford again showed the back hand but this time threw a sweeping right hook that landed clean around Brook’s right eye. Crawford went back to feinting and drawing with his pawing right hand forcing Brook to try to cover distance. Brook took the bait and lunged in with a jab cross that Crawford seemed to have well scouted. Crawford threw a counter hook that intercepted Brook’s forward motion and had him staggered badly. Brook’s jab had been a feint and Crawford landed his hook before Brook fired the right hand which Crawford covered in any case. Brook was sent reeling into the ropes, Crawford followed up with a left hook upstairs, one to the body and a wide sweeping hook to the chin that landed clean. The ref broke them up and gave Brook a standing 8 count. As they came together it was noticeable that Brook didn’t look to hold or circle away but instead went back to looking for right hands. Crawford probed for a moment, threw a long left hand to get in and feinted his right hand, paused for half a second then landed it stunning Brook again, he then followed up with a series of hooks round the side from both hands and the ref called it off.
Immediately Crawford stopped dead, no jumping around, no celebrating at all, he stood near stone still and checked on his opponent with a seemingly resting heart rate in what I can only describe as a Hopkinseque manner. What a performance that has to be the shortest intercepting counter that I have ever seen, all set up with superior movement.
Terrence Crawford impressed me for many reasons in this fight and I will be sure to go back through his fights with a keen eye. His subtle feints and ring generalship is noticeable in an age of static power punchers. He is still unbeaten and will apparently soon look to unify the division against fellow champion Errol.
Brook bounced back from this loss by defeating long time domestic rival Amir Khan in his next fight. Will he get another shot at championship gold? Time will tell as he is 35 now in a division known for being a bit of a young man weight class.
What did you think of this week’s fight?
Come back next week for another fight of the week retrospective trip down memory lane.All fight of the week fights can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist…