By George Goddiess: In yet another surgical performance Terrence “Bud” Crawford disarmed “Hammerin” Hank Lundy in five rounds at the theater of Madison Square Garden. Defending his WBO Junior Welterweight Title for the second time, the now 28-0 Crawford dominated to a destructive stoppage of Lundy. This was not an exciting fight or toe to toe war but the intensity of the two fighters and obvious dislike between them kept observers on the edge of their seats until the conclusion.
Lundy had an intense stare during the pre-fight introductions and opened the bout in an extremely focused manner. He won the first round and looked to be an interesting test only to have Crawford establish complete control and end the night the moment he had him hurt. Crawford is cementing himself as a top class finisher with his devastating power and hand speed that all leads to precise power punching. The only disappointment tonight by Crawford was his post-fight interview where he failed to call out Viktor Postol or Adrien Broner to make the most significant or interesting fights at the division.
Hank Lundy is by no means a future all-time great now 26-6-1 but despite his six losses in thirty-three fights he has been a tough outing for all the fighters he had faced until tonight. He went the distance in competitive fights with Viktor Postol and Thomas Dulorme while also dropping a close and controversial decision to Mauricio Herrera. Lundy in past fights was able to switch stances and mix counter punching with pressure fighting. In the opening round Lundy came out studying Crawford while displaying adept head movement to make himself a difficult target. Lundy then landed a solid over hand right and left hook shortly after Crawford went southpaw. Lundy continued success with his offense and won the first round but Crawford in the last thirty seconds or so appeared to have somewhat figured Lundy out.
In the second round Crawford came out of his corner as a southpaw and spent the rest of the fight with his right hand and foot forward. Crawford stuck out a lot of jabs in the second round and did hit mostly the left shoulder and gloves of Lundy but the ineffective punching was effective occupation. He did not hit Lundy with anything stinging in that round but was able to keep Lundy at the range he likes. Crawford only had a one inch height advantage and a two inch reach advantage but it seemed like a few feet. Lundy moved his head smartly and kept his head tucked behind his shoulder but was never in position to be offensive. Crawford completely mastered the range of the action and put the ball in Lundy’s court to act.
The third round was more of the same as Crawford kept Lundy at a distance with the right jab. Lundy landed a hard jab but Crawford responded immediately with a left cross of his own. Crawford started to plant more shots successfully down the middle to Lundy’s face which seemed that Hank was going to have to make an adjustment. Lundy did employee an intelligent tactic of inside fighting and roughhousing that we have seen in the past as he got a hold of Crawford and landed two inside lefts. These were not hurtful fight changing blows but it seemed like the right idea for Lundy as he was being phased out of this fight by the Crawford jab. Round four was a competitive round as Lundy was still game and not refusing to quit but just did not have the right stuff to deal with Crawford’s outside game. Lundy did finally switch his stance in this round but that did not provide a major difference in the action. Crawford landed a solid right hook and blood began to run out from a cut outside the right eye of Lundy.
Round five would prove to be the final round of the evening as Crawford began the round with a solid straight left hand over the shoulder of Lundy that connected flush. This is was the ultimate sign that Lundy was in big trouble as it appeared Crawford had went from disarming Lundy’s offense to getting in a clean and effective shot through the defense. The two fighters exchanged left hands with Crawford coming in for more and landing a solid left hand that wobbled Lundy and Crawford seemed to hesitate briefly only to jump on him again with a hard left hand and Lundy staggered a little more. Lundy too proud to hold or take a knee swung wildly at Crawford to force an exchange pretty reminiscent of Yuriorkis Gamboa. Then a left hand down the middle pushed Lundy back to the ropes with his arms in the air he was caught by the ropes before falling to the canvas. He got to a knee at about the count of four and rose to his feet at seven. Referee Steve Willis was very generous to let it continue as it was clear that Lundy was gone. Crawford wasted no time in finishing off a very dazed Lundy. He came in with two straight lefts and Lundy credit to his bravery shot a right hook of his own but was followed by two hard right hooks from Crawford and Willis was right to jump in and call the fight. Crawford leaned around Willis to look at Lundy before sticking his tongue out toward the crowd. The animosity the two displayed before the fight was a seemingly mutual respect afterwards.
The Aftermath
Terrence Crawford tonight did what he was supposed to do and what he was expected to do. Many fans ahead of this fight were disappointed at the opponent choice as Thomas Dulorme and Dierry Jean were seen as fights to test the waters of junior welterweight and this fight seemed like yet another stay busy or tune up sort of fight. Crawford shined here by stopping a fighter who had not been stopped in roughly six years and was a tough out for the thirty-two men he fought before tonight. This fight did not really tell us anything we did not already know about Crawford but as the favorite being featured sometimes that is a good thing. However, it has been four fights and around eighteen months since the Gamboa fight and he has yet to follow up on that victory. Yes he won another version of a world title at the weight above and the scalps he has accrued during this span have been very good, they are not as great as destroying Gamboa in a war. Hopefully what we see next is a fight with the previously mentioned Broner or Postol which would unify titles and give us a better idea of who the man is with the departure of Danny Garcia to welterweight. That said, Crawford would most likely be the favorite against anyone in this division.
For Hank Lundy tonight was a no lose scenario as he was a clear underdog who really should never have been in the ring tonight for a title fight. Though he was ranked tenth by the WBO, RING has him unranked and he is 4-4 and his last eight fights. Sure he was highly competitive in those fights but at the end of the day he was in a position that he really should not have been in. Lundy made the most of what he was given with his prefight antics, a 10-9 first round in his favor and just a game overall performance. Lundy proves that he is an old school fighter in that he will go and fight anyone even on short notice. He has come a long way since tearing up the RING rankings on ESPN Friday Night Fights prior to his comeuppance against John Molina but without losing his cockiness. Hank Lundy really has nothing to be ashamed of in being stopped by Crawford and I’m sure he will move on and face another tough opponent in the next six months.
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