CRAWFORD IS NOT UNDERESTIMATING HORN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 09 Feb 2018
Former two division world champion Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs) is not underestimating the talent and ability of WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs). The details of the fight are almost finalized on April 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Horn won an upset twelve round unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao in July to grab his WBO title at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia before a crowd of more than 51,000. The fight was not without controversy after the results were announced.
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Pacquiao's camp protested and demanded an investigation from the World Boxing Organization. The WBO conducted a review and upheld the result of the fight unlike what happened to the first Pacquiao match with Timothy Bradley where the WBO had unofficially declared Pacquaio as the winner.
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For his part, Crawford had no adverse comment with the scoring. He thinks the contest was very close and the result could have went either way. In Crawford's opinion of the action, Horn was inflecting so much destruction in the fight and Pacquiao's power punches were not as telling on the bigger Horn. "It was a close fight, [Horn] could have arguably won the fight. Because when I look at the fight, from the first couple of rounds and some of last rounds of the fight, he was roughing Pacquiao up, he was pushing Pacquiao around, he was aking Pacquiao miss, he was landing little punches that maybe weren't hurting Pacquiao - but they may not have been scored [with the people watching]," Crawford told Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports.
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Bud added that "Pacquiao was also landing a lot of shots that weren't as telling because Jeff is so big that he wasn't moving him as much like he would normally do if he landed those shots on a smaller welterweight. I look it as he got the victory and that's that. It could have went either way."
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Brian Viloria, as a flyweight and at 37 years old, knows that 112-pound fighters slow down at 30 and most of them retired at this age. The more popular fellow members of the 2000 United States Olympic team, Jermain Taylor, Jeff Lacy, Rocky Juarez, have all made their exit from professional boxing. ?It?s basically just taking care of myself outside the ring,? he told Thomas Gerbasi of BoxingScene.
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He added that in between fights he still try to eat healthy, even though he is not in training camp. The "Hawaiian Punch" tries to stay active, and he thinks the key part of the longevity is staying in shape in between fights. "Guys like (Floyd) Mayweather have done that, Bernard Hopkins the same thing, and I?m basically living the lifestyle of a training camp even when I?m not in training camp.?
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?I thought I would be over by the age of 30,? he said. ?A lot of guys in the lower weight divisions don?t last past 30, 32 years old, much less 37. I just feel like I?m blessed. God has given me the chance and the strength to just keep doing this at an elite level. I?m not just going out there and hoping for things to happen; I?m just happy that things are turning out the way they are right now.?
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Winner of two straight over Ruben Montoya and Miguel Cartagena, Viloria has looked good since his 2015 defeat against Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez in a ninth-round TKO loss. He has won four world titles and a victory over the unbeaten Artem Dalakian on February 24 will make it five.
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When asked how does he beat a hungry, unbeaten opponent, he replied ?Fighting smart, just using that experience to my advantage and exploiting some of his inexperience in the ring.? Viloria said he knows how talented his foe is, but he had gone through the wringer himself and faced the best. He emphasized he is going to utilize that come fight night and try to maximize each mistake that the opponent makes, try to maximize the experiences he had gone through in the past. "I?m ready for it, I?ve gone through it, and I just have to deliver it on the 24th," added Viloria.
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Welshman Jimmy Wilde, nicknamed "The Might Atom," is considered one of the greatest flyweights in boxing history and one of the top boxers of the United Kingdom. From his professional debut in 1910 until his first defeat in 1915, Wilde compiled an unbeaten streak of 103 wins. But, many of these fights were fought with unknown oppinents and none were contested outside the U.K. Undoubtedly, the most impressive unbeaten streak in boxing history is the record of the pound-for-pound king, Sugar Ray Robinson. After suffering his first loss to Jake LaMotta in 1943, Robinson wasn't able to taste another loss until 1951. During that period he won the welterweight and then middleweight titles while going undefeated in 91 straight fights.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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