As much as I liked Crawford’s performance tonight, I must say it was one of the most boring performances I’ve seen from a champion in some time. When you note that HBO is no longer televising Guillermo Rigondeaux’s fights on their network, it makes you wonder why, because he’s arguably a much entertaining fighter to watch than Crawford.
By Dan Ambrose: WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KOs) will be making his second and likely his last defense of his World Boxing Organization 135 pound title tonight against #1 WBO Raymundo Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs) on HBO from the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
By Allan Fox:
#1 WBO Raymundo Beltran will be challenging WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford on November 29th on HBO from Omaha, Nebraska. Despite being only a contender in this fight, Betran believes that he’s a champion because of his fight against former WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns last year in September.
The judges scored the fight as a 12 round draw even though Beltran dominated the last 11 rounds of the fight and even knocked Burns down. It was arguably a robbery and it was a definite setback to Beltran’s career, especially after the World Boxing Organization ordered Burns to fight Crawford instead of him afterwards.
OMAHA, NEB (September 30, 2014) — Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD, Omaha’s favorite son, will make an encore hometown title defense on the heels of his wildly successful victory over previously undefeated world champion and Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa. Crawford will defend his title against No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger RAY BELTRAN on Thanksgiving weekend, Saturday, November 29, at the CenturyLink Center. The fight will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at
10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
By Scott Gilfoid: The talented unbeaten WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KOs) will be making his second and likely his last title defense of his WBO strap in two months on November 29th against #1 WBO Raymundo Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KOs) in Crawford’s home city at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Crawford feels that Beltran was robbed last September in 2013 when he challenged former WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns in his home city of Glasgow, Scotland and had to settle for a 12 round draw.
By Dan Ambrose: If you were hoping to see WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KO’s) move up in weight to 140 to try and face guys like Manny Pacquiao, Ruslan Provodnikov, Lucas Matthysse or Chris Algieiri, you’re going to have to wait a while for those fights to happen if they ever do, because Bob Arum of Top Rank plans on matching Crawford up against his #1 WBO lightweight challenger 32-year-old Raymundo Beltran (29-6-1, 17 KO’s) next on November 8th, according to Steve Kim.
The Crawford-Beltran fight still isn’t official, so there’s an outside chance that Crawford could fight someone else, but considering that Arum promotes Beltran and that he really doesn’t have anyone else to match him against right now, you can bet that the Beltran-Crawford fight will very likely take place.
By Dan Ambrose: In a sign that they may feel WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford isn’t ready for to test his skills against the equally large light welterweights like Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov, Crawford’s manager Cameron Dunkin said to Fightnews.com that Crawford may stay at lightweight because he still is able to make weight in the division.
Dunkin is leaving it up to Crawford to make the decision whether to move up in weight or stay where he’s at. But with Dunkin seeing Crawford as still able to make the weight, it’s likely that Crawford will stay at lightweight rather than move up to 140 and face guys with bigger power and size than what’s become accustomed to facing.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11 KO’s) is really disappointed that the World Boxing Organization won’t let him fight a rematch against Raymundo Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KO’s) straightaway in his next fight rather than having to fight #1 WBO Terence Crawford (22-0, 16 KO’s) first, as Burns feels that he has unfinished business with Beltran that he’d like to take care of first before he moves on to a title defense against his mandatory challenger Crawford. Unfortunately for Burns, the WBO ordered that he fight Crawford next so there’s no getting around it and all the wishful thinking that he has is a waste of time.
Burns said to Sky Sports “If he [Beltran] couldn’t get the job finished with a guy with a broken jaw, what would a rematch be like?
By Scott Gilfoid: #3 WBO, Raymundo Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KO’s) says he knows exactly what to expect from WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11 KO’s) in their rematch this March in Glasgow, Scotland, if the fight gets made. Beltran figures that Burns will use the same fight strategy that he used last time with Burns running and clinching constantly without receiving warnings or point deductions from the referee for the excessive holing.
Beltran totally dominated Burns in their fight last September in Scotland, but the judges scored it a 12 round draw by the following scores: 115-112 for Burns, 114-114, and 115-113 for Beltran. Two of those scores were as bad as the one judge that scored the Floyd Maywather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez a draw. There was nothing close at all about the Beltran-Burns fight.
By Scott Gilfoid: Negotiations for a rematch between WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (36-2-1, 11 KO’s) and #3 WBO Raymundo Beltran (28-6-1, 17 KO’s) is almost done for a February rematch, according to the BBC Sport. The fight once again will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, which is where Burns and Beltran went at it last September with the fight ending in a highly controversial 12 round draw.
Beltran dominated 9 of the 12 rounds of the fight, and knocked Burns down in the 8th round from a big left hook from Beltran. After the fight it was learned that Burns had fought with a broken jaw through most of the bout. Burns felt that his broken jaw was one of the reasons why he was so ineffective in the fight.