Terence Crawford TKOs Kell Brook; Franco-Moloney II Ends in Controversy

If Terence “Bud” Crawford isn’t the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighter, he’s at least on the very short list of contenders (a list that became shorter when Teofimo Lopez upset Vasiliy Lomachenko). Tonight, before a handful of fans at the MGM “Bubble,” Crawford stopped Kell Brook in the fourth round while making a strong case that he is indeed the best of the best and arguably one of the best welterweights of all time.

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) was making the fourth defense of his WBO world welterweight title. As is his custom, he started slowly. But in the opening minute of the fourth round he landed a right hook that sent Brook staggering back against the ropes. He immediately went for the kill, but was pulled off the Yorkshireman by referee Tony Weeks so that he could issue a count. When the fight resumed, Crawford took care of business. A flurry of power punches including a devastating overhand right forced Weeks to waive it off. The official time was 1:14.

It was the third defeat in 42 fights for Brook who was making his first start without trainer Dominic Ingle. All three losses were to Future Hall of Famers: Gennadiy Golovkin, Errol Spence Jr, and now Crawford. It took Spence 11 rounds to polish off Brook when they fought on Brook’s turf in front of 27,000 people in Sheffield, England.

After the fight, Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum said that talks will resume for a bout with Manny Pacquiao and that the fight will likely transpire in the early spring of 2021 in the Middle East.

Co-Feature

Joshua Franco retained his WBA world 115-pound title in a controversial fashion when the Nevada State Athletic Commission, after a delay of more than 25 minutes, affirmed the opinion of referee Russell Mora that the injury to Franco’s right eye was caused by an accidental head butt. The fight was stopped by the ring doctor after two rounds and went into the books as a no-decision.

Australia’s Andrew Moloney, who was seeking to regain the title that he lost to Franco in this ring on June 23 and thereby avenge his lone defeat, clearly had the best of it until the fight was stopped. In the opening stanza, Franco’s eye began to swell and it shut tight during the second frame. As to whether the swelling was caused by a head butt, the video was either inconclusive or showed that the swelling must have resulted from a punch as there was no head butt. The commission chose the former, much to the outrage of lead commentator Joe Tessitore who left the ESPN audience with the impression that Moloney got a raw deal.

Franco entered the contest with a record of 17-1-2. Moloney was 21-1. Look for the WBA to order a rematch. The brouhaha does not reflect well on Bob Bennett, the head of the Nevada commission, who is being roasted on social media.

Other Bouts

An 8-round bantamweight match between Joshua Greer (22-2-2) and Edwin Rodriguez (11-5-2) ended in a draw. It was the first fight back for Chicago’s Greer who was upset by Mike Plania in his last start, a setback that ended his 19-fight winning streak and knocked him out of the top slot in the WBO rankings. Rodriguez, a Puerto Rican, was better than his record. His last nine opponents were collectively 111-6-1 at the time that he fought them.

Tennessee middleweight Tyler Howard improved to 19-0 with an 8-round unanimous decision over battle-tested Alabama gatekeeper KeAndrae Leatherwood. It was the first fight in Las Vegas for Howard whose dad, a journeyman light heavyweight, was 0-3 in Las Vegas rings. The fight was uneventful until late in the final round when Howard scored a knockdown. Earlier in the fight, Leatherwood had a point deducted for excessive holding.

Cincinnati featherweight Duke Ragan, who participated in the 2016 and 2010 Olympic trials, improved to 3-0 at the expense of Sebastian Gutierrez (1-1). Ragan won every round, prevailing by scores of 40-35 across the board.

Vegas Larfield (2-0, 2 KOs), an 18-year-old Aussie from Brisbane, made an impressive U.S. debut with a third-round stoppage of Juan Alberto Flores (2-1-1).

In the opener, a lightweight contest slated for six, Raymond Muratalla, improved to 11-0 (9) with a third-round stoppage of Ecuador’s Luis Porozo (15-5). Porozo has now lost five of his last six, but was thought to be a durable type, having lost only once previously inside the distance. Muratalla, the youngest of two fighting brothers from Fontana, CA, purportedly defeated Ryan Garcia three times as an amateur.

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