By Tom Donelson (BWAA)
Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America
Our mutual friend Rusty Rubin (R.I.P.) was instrumental in connecting Tom to dmboxing.com in 2008
Terrance Crawford and Julius Indongo fought to unify all the belts in the 140 pound division with Crawford the heavy favorite. Indongo may have been the underdog but he did defeat soundly Ricky Burns and knocked out Eduard Troyanovsky to win his share of the titles; so it would not have been out of ordinary for an upset to have occurred. Crawford goal was to win the titles and then move up to the very crowded, talented 147 pounds but Indongo was the final obstacles and not the easy obstacles many thought going into the fight.
The first round saw Crawford landed some nice combinations and during the second round, Crawford sent Indongo down for a quick eight count as a result of a quick left to the head. Indongo wasn’t hurt as he lost his footing when nailed. Indongo attempted to come back but got nailed by Crawford quick handed combinations as the bell sounded ending the round.
The third round saw one of those spectacular knockouts as Crawford nailed Indongo with a vicious bodyshots that appeared to split Indongo in half. Indongo couldn’t even get up from the punch as he was counted out.
Crawford became the first fighter to win all four belts since Jermain Taylor defeated Bernard Hopkins in 2005 and as Terrance Crawford mention to ESPN Dan Rafel, ““It means a lot to me being it’s the first time all four belts have been on the line at one time in a long time. Only been done [three times] ever before. I am just ready for the moment and excited for the fight. This is what we do it for, to be called one of the best in the world, in the division. Why not shoot for greatness?”
Crawford will move up to Welterweight now that he has conquered the lightweight and junior Welterweight divisions. There are plenty of good fights for him in a division where the separation between fighters is not that much of a difference. The Welterweight is not just a loaded division but it is a loaded division with many of the top fighters very close in ability to each other and each fight among the best have proven to be close nail biters and often in doubt till the end.
There are great fights available including with Errol Spence, Jr., Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter with the only question being will the different promoters get together and allow these fights to happen?
As for Crawford, he defeated a good fighter in Indongo who won two big fights decisively to win his titles before matching up with Crawford. Crawford didn’t just win this fight, he crushed a good opponent in winning his belts.