Crawford stops Horn to seize WBO welterweight world title
Former heavyweight champion Fury wins on comeback
LOS ANGELES, June 10, (AFP): Unbeaten Terence Crawford punished Jeff Horn en route to a ninth-round technical knockout on Saturday to seize the Australian’s World Boxing Organization welterweight world title.
America’s Crawford, the former undisputed super lightweight world title holder, outclassed the Aussie who was defending the title he won in a huge upset of Manny Pacquiao in July of last year in Brisbane.
Horn defended the belt with a technical knockout of Gary Corcoran in December, but he was dominated by world title in a third weight division.
He defeated Julius Indongo last August to become the undisputed super lightweight world champion.
A former WBO lightweight world champ, Crawford made the move up to welterweight in impressive fashion.
He won every round and was never really hurt by Horn, who fell to 18-1 with one draw and 12 knockouts.
Meanwhile, Mexican boxer Leo Santa Cruz retained his WBA belt by earning a unanimous decision victory over Abner Mares on Saturday in a rematch of a 2015 featherweight title fight.
Santa Cruz improved to 34-1-1 with 19 career knockouts by winning on all three judges scorecards, 115-113, 116-112, 117-111 at the Staples Center arena.
“I did what I had to do to win the fight,” Santa Cruz said. “Mares is a tough fighter. Thank God I got the victory.”
Santa Cruz won despite suffering a cut over his left eye which was the result of a head butt from Mares in the eighth round. The cut bled for the remainder of the fight but didn’t appear to bother Santa Cruz much.
Terence Crawford (left), hits Jeff Horn in the ninth round of their WBO welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 9, in Las
Vegas, Nevada. (AFP)
The pair fought once before on August 29, 2015 as Santa Cruz also won that one but by a majority decision.
After that victory, Santa Cruz actually lost the title to Carl Frampton in July 2016, but regained it back in January 2017.
Santa Cruz said he wasn’t going to be slowed down by the cut over his eye.
“A cut is a cut. It is just blood. It wasn’t bothering my eyes. It just gives me more motivation,” he said.
Santa Cruz also said that he wants his next fight to be against Gary Russell for the WBC featherweight title.
Mares, also of Mexico, drops to 313-1 (15 KOs) as he pushed for a third fight between the two.
“I am sorry I came out short,” said Mares. “It is always a problem trying to get inside on him. I fought my heart out but at the end of the day I did my best. “Let’s do a third fight.” On the undercard, WBC super welterweight champ Jermell Charlo successfully defended his belt for the third time, by flooring Austin Trout twice en route to a 12-round majority decision.
Charlo improved to 31-0 overall, while Trout fell to 31-5.
In Manchester, United Kingdom, former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury declared himself completely happy with his four-round comeback win on Saturday night, despite a lack of action.
Fury only got going in the fourth round and his brief exhibition of power convinced Sefer Seferi’s corner to pull out the Switzerland-based Albanian before the start of the fifth round.
Fury, 29, did not take his task totally seriously early on and was told off by referee Phil Edwards for playing to the crowd, but the English boxer was pleased it was not a short fight after two years and seven months out of action.
“He didn’t come to fight, he came to run around the ring,” Fury told a press conference.
“The opponent was small and light. But he took me a few rounds, which I was happy with.
“I wouldn’t change a thing, and we move on to the next one. I will go back home and have pizza and then get back on it tomorrow.
“I could have knocked him out in the first round but what good would that have done me? I got four rounds in and TV exposure.
Fury