ESPN has back-to-back nights of boxing again with a Top Rank show featuring Terence Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) fighting against Julius Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs) in a unification match with the IBF, WBo, WBC and WBA Super Lightweight belts up for grabs at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, in Lincoln, Neb.
In the undercard, we’ll get a light heavyweight bout between Oleksandr Gvozdyk taking on Craig Baker.
If ESPN and Top Rank throw out a third fight, I’ll pick up the live blog when Gvozdyk and Baker hit the ring. As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from Top Rank and ESPN.
Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs), of Omaha, Neb., is a two-division world champion who has won six of his last eight bouts by stoppage. In his 2017 debut which took place on May 20 at Madison Square Garden, Crawford successfully defended his titles via a 10th-round stoppage of former Olympic gold medalist and top-rated contender Félix Díaz. It is premium cable’s most-watched fight for 2017. Crawford unified the 140-pound titles in a battle between consensus Top-10 pound-for-pound fighters on July 23, 2016, successfully defending his WBO junior welterweight title for the third time by winning a unanimous decision over previously undefeated WBC super lightweight champion Viktor Postol. That victory also garnered him The Ring title, designating him the lineal champion. He made his first defense of his unified titles on December 10, 2016, stopping No. 1 contender and one-time world title challenger John Molina Jr. in front of a record crowd at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. The consensus Top-Five pound-for-pound fighter will be looking to keep building on his star-making 2014 which featured three world championship victories as well as Fighter of the Year honors from the Boxing Writers Association of America and major media alike. Crawford, 29, captured the vacant WBO junior welterweight crown on April 18, 2015, via a devastating sixth-round knockout of once-beaten No. 2 world-rated contender Thomas Dulorme. His title defenses include stopping No. 2 world-rated contender Dierry Jean in front of a packed house at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha on October 24, 2015, knocking out Top-10 contender Hank Lundy in the fifth round on February 27, 2016, at a sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden, and headlining his first pay-per-view on July 23, where he totally dominated Postol. Crawford began his career-best year on March 1, 2014, just 13 days short of the sixth anniversary of his professional debut. He captured his first world title, the WBO lightweight title, dethroning defending champion Ricky Burns on Burns’ home turf of Glasgow, Scotland. Scoring a powerful and unanimous decision, Crawford put the boxing world on notice with his virtuoso performance as he pulled out all stops in dismantling Burns, rocking the defending champion throughout the fight, while switching back and forth between orthodox and southpaw stances. He followed that with a dramatic and critically-acclaimed knockout victory of undefeated former world champion and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa on June 28, 2014, in a Fight of the Year nominee. It was one of the most-watched fights of the year with over 1.2 million viewers catching the live, first-time airing of the fight, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The fights are on ESPN at 10 p.m. Watch them with me.
