Crawford stops Benavidez in last round to keep WBO belt

Stevenson KOs Simion; Mayer wins by a unanimous decision

OMAHA, Nebreska, Oct 14, (AP): Terence “Bud” Crawford had one last retort to all the insults Jose Benavidez hurled his way.

His right hand delivered it. Crawford used an uppercut to Benavidez’s chin to knock him down the first time in the 12th and final round and then consecutive rights to put him down a second, prompting referee Celestino Ruiz to stop the fight with 18 seconds left.

Crawford, a three-division champion who was making his first defense of his WBO welterweight belt, stuck out his tongue at his fallen opponent at the conclusion of what amounted to a personal grudge match.

Next up for Crawford could be a unification bout with IBF champion Errol Spence Jr, something promoter Bob Arum has said he would like to make happen sometime in 2019. The only problem is that Spence is promoted by Al Haymon, but Arum has said that would not be an insurmountable problem. The 31-year-old Crawford (34-0, 25 knockouts), ranked first or second on the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter lists, put on a workmanlike performance for the first half of the fight in front of a hometown crowd of 13,000 that included Crawford friend and billionaire Warren Buffett.

Benavidez (27-1, 18 KOs) began tiring in the seventh after taking body shot after body shot.

Benavidez, 26, was plenty frisky, motioning for Crawford to keep coming toward him even as it became apparent Crawford had taken control of the fight, and he showed renewed life in the 10th when he landed a couple shots.

The crowd was on its feet for the 12th round, and “Craw-ford!” ‘’Crawford!” chants echoed through the arena. Crawford kept coming in the 12th, and Benavidez could take no more of the steady punishment. “Oh man, it was coming,” Crawford said of his finishing flurry. “It was just a matter of time. He slowed down tremendously. He was tired. That’s when I saw my opportunity to take my best shot.”