Jeff Horn No Match for Terence Crawford

“He didn’t seem like the smaller guy, that’s for sure.” – @JeffHornBoxer #CrawfordHorn pic.twitter.com/XaTZnxpFVE

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) June 10, 2018

Only a month ago the boxing world was convinced that Vasily Lomachenko was the best fighter in the world, the pound-for-pound king who would reign unrivaled as the best prizefighter in the world for years to come. Tonight, Terence Crawford challenged that narrative in being completely unchallenged by Jeff Horn.

In his first ever fight at welterweight (147), Crawford thoroughly dominated Horn, winning every round and flooring the Australian en route to a 9th-round TKO victory. The fight was never close, as Crawford staggered Horn with a straight left hand from a southpaw stance almost immediately, setting the tone for a night where Horn’s toughness and courage would be commended but his ring skills wouldn’t. For the rest of the fight, Crawford showboated, switched stances, and consistently landed clean, hard punches on his far slower opponent before finally forcing referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight by teeing off on Horn after he got up from a knockdown. In the end, Crawford was just too good.

For years the idea of a Manny Pacquiao-Terence Crawford fight has been talked about, but after tonight there should be no one clamoring for that. While this fight showcased the skills of Crawford, it also showcased just how faded Pacquiao is at this point to have lost to a fighter like Horn. A full year of aging, and the loss of Freddie Roach will do nothing to make him any better than he was that night. But, money talks in boxing and Pacquiao is still a big name, so don’t be surprised if this fight happens should Manny get by hard hitting Lucas Matthysse on July 14.

The welterweight division is stacked with other interesting challengers for Crawford though. Errol Spence Jr. is another great, young fighter and a match between he and Crawford would be the unfortunately rare battle of two great, undefeated fighters in their prime. Ditto for the also undefeated but rarely seen in the ring, Keith Thurman, though I suspect Crawford would be a heavy favorite in that matchup.

Either way, Crawford announced his arrival to the welterweight division and the casual sporting world tonight on ESPN+. After a performance like this, the pride of Omaha, Nebraska, solidified himself as must see….err must stream TV.