By Chris Williams: After beating Victor Postol (28-1, 12 KOs) tonight to claim his WBC light welterweight title, Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) appears to feel that he’s in the position to call the shots for a fight against Manny Pacquiao that he and his promoter Bob Arum BADLY want. Crawford says that if a fight between him and Pacquiao takes place this year on November 5, then Pacquiao will need to move down to 140lbs to fight him for his WBC/WBO light welterweight titles. Crawford won’t fight Pacquiao at welterweight.
“It will be at 140,” Crawford said via ESPN.com, when asked what weight he would consider a fight against Pacquiao.
By Chris Williams: Top Rank’s fighter Terence Crawford may not have proven that he’s American’s next big star tonight, but he did prove that he was good enough to beat WBC light welterweight champion Viktor Postol by a 12 round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crawford got a couple of knockdowns in the 5th of Postol. The first knockdown was a trip after Crawford hit Postol with a weak right hand. Postol tripped over Crawford’s lead foot. The second knockdown was a slip by Postol while retreating. Neither knockdown should have counted in my view. Postol lost a point in round 11 on a rabbit punch. It was a fair call. I didn’t see a warning given to Postol before that.
By Jim Dower: unbeaten WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) boxed his way to a very, very boring 12 round unanimous decision over WBC 140lb champion Viktor Postol 28-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night to win Postol’s WBC belt at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 118-107, 118-107, 117-108.
Crawford knocked Postol down twice in round five in flash knockdowns in which Postol’s gloves touched the canvas.
By Allan Fox: WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) is hoping to take a big step forward in his career tonight in his fight against WBC 140lb champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) in their fight on HBO PPV. Crawford sees himself as the replacement for superstars Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the sport. Crawford and Postol will be fighting on HBO pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crawford is around the same age as both of them when they became huge PPV attractions. Crawford hasn’t shown the same kind of talent that we saw from Pacquiao and Mayweather when they both young at 28. However, it might not matter that Crawford doesn’t have the talent of the guys he replaces at the top of the sport.
There’s an empty spot at the top right now and the boxing public may be willing to accept a lesser fighter like Crawford as the top guy.
By Patrick McHugh: Tonight, Top Rank will be putting on a fight card on HBO pay-per-view headlined by light welterweights Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol. The fight is going for between $49.99 and $59.99 on pay-per-view. According to their promoter Bob Arum, he had no choice but to make the Crawford-Postol fight PPV because HBO didn’t have any available fight dates.
This is the same promotional company that put on Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. on pay-per-view last year with asking price of $100. It was a huge disappointment for the fight fans when the bout failed to produce fireworks of any kind. Pacquiao fought like he was scared after the first two rounds, and Mayweather moved around the ring to avoid getting hit.
You can’t blame the boxing public if they’re not ready to put their hard-earned money on another pay-per-view fight after their experience a year ago. Arum isn’t making things easy on himself by having the lesser known fighters like Crawford and Postol headline the PPV card on HBO. When casual boxing fans see a fight like this on PPV, it just reeks of a money grab attempt.
By Chris Williams: If WBC light welterweight champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) beats WBO 140lb champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) tonight in their fight on HBO pay-per-view, it might not lead to a big money fight against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao. While Crawford has a chance to get the Pacquiao fight, apparently, Postol doesn’t. Bob Arum, the Top Rank promoter for all three fighters, says that he doesn’t know if he’ll let the 5’11” Postol get a fight against Pacquiao if he beats the 28-year-old Crawford tonight, because of the size difference between him and the much shorter 5’6 ½” Filipino star.
We’re not even sure if Crawford will get the fight with Pacquiao if he wins against Postol, because the decision rests with Pacquiao, not with Arum. The 84-year-old promoter has unknowingly put a lot of pressure on Pacquiao to fight Crawford if he wins by frequently mentioning to the media that he could get the fight with the Filipino star next.
It’s now to the point where if Pacquiao doesn’t agree to fight Crawford, he’s probably going to take a lot of criticism from fans and the media simply because Arum has mentioned the possibility of that fight happening so often. If Pacquiao wanted to keep Arum from doing this, then he should have spoken up months ago to tell him to stop saying that there was a chance that he would fight Crawford.
By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol have a great deal at stake for their fight this Saturday night on HBO PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner of the fight could wind up in the ring facing PPV star Manny Pacquiao on November 5. The 37-year-old Pacquiao retired recently after beating Tim Bradley last April by a 12 round decision.
Pacquiao won a seat in the senate in the Philippines, but he still wants to fight and has a little time to go through a brief training camp. His promoter Bob Arum isn’t sure if Pacquiao will fight at 140 or 147 when he does come back. However, Arum has been talking a great deal about the possibility of Pacquiao fighting the winner of the Crawford-Postol fight.
It obviously will be a disappointment to Arum if Pacquiao turns up his nose to fighting the winner of the Crawford vs. Postol fight.
By Jim Dower: Unbeaten light welterweight champions Viktor Postol and Terence Crawford both made weight on Friday for their clash this Saturday night on HBO PPV from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crawford came in at 140 pounds at the upper limit of the light welterweight division.
For his part, Postol weighed in slightly less at 139.5lbs. During the face off, Crawford attempted to get into the head of Postol by moving up in down and staring at Postol in a gleeful way. Postol started grinning and turned away.
By Chris Williams: WBO light welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) will be getting most of the loot this Saturday night in terms of purses for his unification match against WBC 140lb champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) on HBO PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Crawford will be getting $1.3 million for the fight compared to $675,000 for the 32-year-old Postol.
Both fighters are with Top Rank, but Crawford is going to get most of the cash for the fight. That should tell you a little about the pecking order for this promotion. Of course, this could all change in the future if Postol blasts Crawford apart or beats him soundly be a decision.
Crawford is seen as the guy that will be the next big star for the company. If that fails to happen and if Postol wins, it’s going to send shockwaves through Top Rank. They’re going to need to refocus and think of whom next to start hyping like mad. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum would likely be quick to circle his wagons around Postol and start giving him the heavy push in an effort to make him Top Rank’s replacement PPV fighter for Manny Pacquiao, who may not be around more than one or two fights before he retires for good.
By Jeff Aranow: Brian McIntyre, the trainer for WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford, believes that his fighter is in position to get a fight against fellow Top Rank fighter Manny Pacquiao for later this year if they beat WBC 140lb champion Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) this Saturday night on July 23 on HBO pay-per-view from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Crawford is the favorite to win the fight over the 32-year-old Postol, but it’s unclear whether a win over the little known Ukrainian will be enough for him to get the fight with Pacquiao. It’s not up to Crawford or even the 84-year-old Top Rank boss Bob Arum who the opponent will be for Pacquiao.
Arum has kind of jumped the gun a little by saying that the three candidates for Pacquiao’s next fight is the winner of the Crawford-Postol fight and WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas. Pacquiao and his adviser Michael Koncz might not be too eager to face any of those guys, who all happen to be promoted by Arum.
