Crawford tops Postol to unify titles
Junior-welterweight fighter adds WBC belt to his WBO title with unanimous decision.
LAS VEGAS — The many facial expressions of Terence Crawford said it all Saturday as the unbeaten junior-welterweight added a second belt to his collection.
Crawford, flashing a deadly and vicious look of wanting to hurt his opponent, knocked Viktor Postol down twice in the fifth round en route to a convincing victory and showcase of skill at MGM Grand.
By virtue of 118-107 scores from judges Guido Cavalleri and Don Trella and a 117-108 card from Dave Moretti, Crawford (29-0) added Postol’s World Boxing Council belt to the World Boxing Organization held.
“That’s boxing,” Crawford said in the ring afterward. “That’s movement. That’s boxing.”
Crawford, flashing an occasional coy smile as he eluded Postol, remained in a left-handed stance throughout the bout and established the fight’s pattern by striking Postol with a sudden punch f lush to the face in the second.
Postol (28-1) would waste energy pursuing Crawford. Crawford would wait, let Postol throw a punch and masterfully land counterpunches.
“I did everything right. I caught my rhythm. I knew what I was going to do,” Crawford said. “I just kept his feet moving. That was the plan. Go southpaw, stay away from him.”
Crawford trainer Brian McIntyre, gleeful that he and his fighter from Omaha had just beaten a fighter trained by seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach of Hollywood, said he exploited Postol in film study.
“He has to be set up to fight, so the plan was movement — to take away [Postol’s] jab and right hand,” McIntyre said. “By moving the entire time, [Postol] had no arsenal.”
The victory puts Crawford in position to fight Manny Pacquiao next, with the record eight-division champion scheduled to return to the ring on Nov. 5.
“It’ll be at 140 [pounds],” Crawford said of the juniorwelterweight limit. “If [promoter] Bob Arum and my coach want that fight, that’s something we’ll talk about.”
He met Postol quickly in the fifth round, and as the Ukrainian offered a glove to touch, Crawford delivered a quick left at the greeting that dropped Postol.
Later in the fifth, the patient Crawford unleashed a hard left, followed by another punch that sent Postol reeling backward. He touched his left glove on the canvas, meaning he was down again.
What was already a formality became sealed when a frustrated Postol held Crawford and punched him in the back of the head in the 11th, drawing a one-point deduction from referee Tony Weeks.
“He was quicker than me. He’s one of the best fighters in the world,” Postol said. “I just didn’t have the answers.”
Roach also tipped his cap. “Crawford was just too fast. It surprised me how fast. I’m impressed.”
Punch statistics showed Crawford out-landed Postol in punches, 141-83. The champion knew he’d won and stuck out his tongue as the final seconds expired.
Earlier Saturday, Southland-trained Oscar Valdez knew the man standing between him and his first world title had potent punching power — 23 knockouts in a spotless 26-0 record.
So Valdez greeted Argentina’s Matias Rueda with an onslaught of power punches, hammering Rueda so immediately and fiercely that a knockout came 2 minutes 18 seconds into the second round.
Valdez, a 25-year-old twotime Olympian from Mexico who trains in Carson, claimed the WBO featherweight belt to improve to 21-0 with 18 knockouts.
Valdez said the aggressive, effective performance came from “just working hard in the gym,” which is a distant daily drive for the fighter who lives in Lake Elsinore. “That’s the beauty of this sport. If you work hard, you achieve your dream.” lance.pugmire@latimes.com