Top Junior Welterweights Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol are officially set to collide on July 23rd, and what a fight it looks to be. The bout will headline a building HBO PPV card at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Both men are unbeaten, have clocked up a number of strong performances, and hold a piece of the 140-pound crown, which always adds more spice to the mix.
Crawford (28-0, 20 KO), who has been closely watched since turning pro in 2008, has looked special for some time, capturing the WBO Lightweight strap against Ricky Burns in 2014 before adding the WBO 140 belt to his trophy cabinet by crushing Thomas Dulorme last April. Postol (28-0, 12 KO), trained by Hall-of-Fame trainer Freddie Roach, carries a lot more pop than his record would suggest, which he demonstrated in one of 2015’s biggest upsets by stopping Argentine wrecking machine Lucas Matthysse inside 10 rounds.
But there’s a lot more than unbeaten records and world titles that makes Crawford vs Postol particularly salivating. While Crawford is arguably the superior boxer – not by miles – he’ll have to be on his A-game given Postol’s height (5′ 11″ – 5′ 8″) and reach (73.5″ – 70″) advantages; something which allowed Postol to pick off and destory Matthysse in his last outing in October. Now, it could be that Crawford really is one of those natural-born phenomenons who can deal with whatever you throw in front of him, but as it stands right now, this is the best Junior Welterweight scrap out there, and one of the most meaningful meetings in boxing. I’m sold.
Crawford vs Postol will be supported by newly-crowned WBO Super Middleweight champ Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KO) who’ll be taking on a capable but beatable challenger in German-based Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KO). Ramirez, who dethroned long-reigning Arthur Abraham via lopsided Unanimous Decision in April, could also be joined by a couple of touted prospects in Featherweight Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KO), Middleweight 2012 Gold Olympian Ryota Murata (9-0, 6 KO), plus a fight between prospect Jose Benavidez Jr (24-0, 16 KO) and Francisco Santana (24-4-1, 12 KO).
What’s your take on Terence Crawford vs Viktor Postol? Is this Crawford’s biggest test to date? Does Postol have a good shot at halting Crawford’s journey to becoming a future PPV cash cow? And what of this card taking place on HBO PPV? Will you be shelling out to catch the action?
