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Terence Crawford Unifies Another Title; Destroys Errol Spence

LAS VEGAS-After chasing greatness for years looking for anyone to step up, Terence Crawford finally got his wish against Errol Spence and delivered a dominant performance to become undisputed welterweight world champion on Saturday.
It was gangster, like Crawford had quarters in his gloves.
“They talked bad about me,” said Crawford about his critics. “They tried to blacklist me.”
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) used battering right jabs and hooks to bounce Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) around the ring in front of a shocked audience of more than 19,000 fans at the T-Mobile Arena.
By the end of the fight Crawford deposited Spence on the floor three times in their battle between southpaw welterweights. But it was the ramrod right of Crawford that did all the heavy damage.
It was an unexpected performance considering how even the fighters looked on paper.
Spence arrived in the arena escorted by a hip hop artist and thunderous bass. Crawford arrived with superstar rapper Eminem and brought the house down with his song.
It was almost all Crawford from that point on.
The opening round saw both fighters carefully measure each other’s range and speed. Very few punches connected and Spence landed the final blow. After that, it was like Crawford was racing downhill.
In the second round, after the Texas welterweight connected with a combination to the body. Crawford countered with a left, then a stiff right that sent Spence to the floor for the first time in his pro career.
“It was a flash knockdown,” admitted Crawford about the knockdown of Spence.
After that, Spence was fully aware of Crawford’s power. It didn’t matter. The Nebraska fighter was now aware of the impact his blows.
Though Spence bravely tried to regain control, he just couldn’t avoid those ramrod Crawford rights. They moved the Texan every time they connected.
Spence tried attacking the body and moved to the head. But Crawford seemed immune to Spence’s power. He stopped moving backward and fought in the pocket and commanded complete control of the match.
In the seventh round Spence opened up with a spirited attack and pinned the Nebraskan on the ropes. Suddenly Crawford delivered a right uppercut that connected and sent Spence down for the second time.
“I caught him with an uppercut that he didn’t see, I followed up with a hook to the ear,” said Crawford.
Spence beat the count and found Crawford moving in for the finish and while trying to evade the attack was caught by a double right hook from Crawford and down he went again. Spence got up and survived the round.
It was apparent to the large crowd that Crawford was in total control of the fight. As determined as Spence was to continue, he seemed stunned every time hit with that penetrating right.
“It was an off night,” said Spence. “He was the better man.”
Crawford was in total stalking mode and Spence still seemed determined to turn things around. But it was only an illusion as Crawford unloaded with eight punches that drove Spence across the ring and into the ropes. Referee Harvey Dock wisely stopped the assault at 2:32 of the ninth round.
No doubt about it, Crawford is the undisputed welterweight champion of the world and maybe the best pound for pound. That’s another debate.
“Like I said before nobody is better than me, like I told him none of this is possible without him,” said Crawford about Spence accepting the fight. “It means everything because of who I took the belts from.”
After the fight Crawford was subdued but slightly emotional.
“Tonight, I think I showed how great I am,” he said. “So many emotions. I can cry right now. I just want to thank God.”
Cruz
Isaac Cruz pounded away at the taller Giovanni Cabrera but never could crack or drop the gritty fighter from Chicago. But he did convince two out of three judges he was the better fighter in winning by split decision in the lightweight elimination bout.
Cruz whacked Cabrera relentlessly like hacking away at tall lumber but Cabrera absorbed all the shots and kept punching back. In the eighth round during another Cabrera clinch, Cruz got frustrated and butted intentionally. He was deducted a point for the infraction by referee Tom Taylor. It proved somewhat pivotal to the judges.
Though Cruz landed the harder blows, the constant punching by Cabrera kept him in the fight. After 12 rounds with no knockdowns one judge saw it 114-113 for Cabrera but the other two judges gave it to Cruz 114-113, 115-112 for Cruz who wins by split decision.
“I do respect all of my opponents,” said Cruz. “The judges make their own decisions. He was frustrating a little. He thought it was my birthday he was hugging so much.”
Santiago – Donaire
Mexico’s Alexandro Santiago (28-3-5, 14 KOs) managed to out-fight legendary fighter Nonito Donaire (42-8, 28 KOs) to win the vacant WBC bantamweight world title by unanimous decision. In tears the new champion thanked his parents and new baby boy for inspiring and supporting his career that finally led to a world title.
“It was such an honor to fight such a legendary champion like Nonito Donaire,” said Tijuana’s Santiago.
Trained by Romulo Quirarte and son, Santiago rallied in the middle part of the fight despite suffering cuts on side of both eyes. He found success by attacking with quick combinations as Donaire tried his old dependable left hook counter.
It didn’t work after the third round when he shook Santiago.
From that point on it was Santiago attacking with combinations and Donaire trying to land that big left hook that had left so many victims on the floor in defeat.
Not this time.
“I didn’t pull the trigger,” said Donaire.
Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez (6-0, 5 KOs) overcame a slow start and knocked out Spain’s Sergio Garcia (34-3, 14 KOs) with an all-out assault. Tellez floored Garcia with two bludgeoning rights and that pretty much sent Garcia into a tailspin he could not escape. The end came at 2:02 of the third round as referee Robert Hoyle stopped the fight.
“We worked on this in the training camp,” said Tellez. “It was that assassin’s mode we Cubans have.”
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach
LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.
Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.
It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.
Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.
Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.
Bustillo Wins Rematch
In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.
Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.
Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.
After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.
Other Bouts
In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.
A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.
SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other. There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.
It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.
Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.
Co-Feature
In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.
Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.
Other Bouts of Note
The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.
The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.
In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.
Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing
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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.
In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.
In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.
Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”
He meant it as a rhetorical question.
Semi-Windup
Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.
A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.
Also
Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.
In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.
The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.
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