By Jaime Ortega: Terrence Crawford will defend his belts against contender John Molina. The fight is set for December 10, but no one has signed any deals yet. The fight holds little meaning to Crawford’s highly superior technical ability, who will easily defeat Molina on a one sided match-up.
Crawford’s camp has shown reluctance to announce a much riskier fight – one that would outmatch any other fight on the Junior Welterweight division. That is against the IBF and IBO champion, Eduard Troyanovsky, an undefeated Russian who doesn’t fear any welterweight.
Troyanovsky recently destroyed contender Keita Obara on the second round, via Knockout in Moscow. The fight was a breeze on the park for the Russian who immediately after the fight called out Crawford to step up and fight him. Troyanovsky’s camp scheduled a fight with Julius Indongo, an undefeated Namibian fighter in Moscow for December 12, tired of waiting for a response from Crawford’s camp.
Have no doubts that Crawford’s camp know full well Troyanovsky is no joke and no hype. His trainer is one of Russia’s most respected coaches and a regular at the Mayweather Gym. He has given Troyanovsky a repertoire of arsenal which makes him a serious threat to anyone.
Ricky Burns has also avoided a unification bout with the Russian champion, and has not called his name out —not even one time. Everyone is trying to avoid the Russian — and unlike the great fights taking place on other divisions – it’s not good news that the Briton and the American have not called out or even mentioned the Russian’s name.
The questions is why is Troyanovsky so avoided? Well to start, he has a 90 percent knockout ratio. He has the highest knockout ration on the welterweight division. He can also cut the ring, and ring shift with relative ease; he has dynamite on both hands and has a very good defense – mostly reflexive and slips punches well. He doesn’t brawl, but instead waits for his opponents to get in range to counter them with his jab. His most dangerous weapon are his devastating uppercuts – if those land its game over – and he times and places his uppercuts well.
To date, Crawford’s most impressive win was against Viktor Postol. His fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa was impressive to watch, but unfair to the Cuban. The Cuban was really a super featherweight who came to tussle without defense against a natural welterweight. At that time Crawford was Timothy Bradley’s sparring partner – the weight difference was simply unfair.
Crawford hasn’t face a destroyer like Troyanovsky — and frankly — I don’t know what he is waiting for. Crawford hasn’t fought an elite Russian, and it can be said that the Russian hasn’t faced any Americans. Russia versus America is on demand, and has started to become a new trend in the boxing scene.
After the Molina and the Indongo bouts, I seriously expect a unification fight to take place between the Russian and the American by February. For those who think that Crawford will simply blow the Russian out the water — I have bad news— it is not going to happen. The Russian will impose his game in the ring also, and you can expect intense exchanges of firepower with few clinches. Both are tactical boxers and have good foot movement.Crawford will get punished and get caught with counter shots, and so will the Russian.
Cesar Cuenca was undefeated before he faced the Russian boxer; Cuenca had the lowest knockout ration I’ve personally ever seen. However, his technique was cunning and he couldn’t outmaneuver the Russian, who instead decided to box before going for the kill. The Russian showed extraordinary defensive movement that kept the Argentinian fighter frustrated, not able to land any punches. In both fights, the Russian not only toyed, but cremated the Argentinian by the 7th round.
Burns and Crawford are not looking forward to fight the Russian, and neither is Adrien Broner or anyone in the Jr. Welterweight division. The Russian is the only boxer who can not only outbox Crawford but knock him out, to underestimate him would be unwise. Oh, and by the way — Troyanovsky’s style has nothing to do with Postol’s – the Russian is a far superior technician than the Ukranian. In fact, all Russian boxers are generally technically superior to their other Eastern European counterparts.