In the
first round of Saturday's Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol fight, HBO's Roy
Jones opined that it could be very dangerous for Crawford to switch to
southpaw because of Postol's straight right hand. Max Kellerman provided some
context for Crawford's decision by correctly pointing out that the switch to
lefty could help to neutralize Postol's jab. This was the essential question of the fight for Crawford and his team: would they rather make themselves more
vulnerable to the straight right hand or the jab?
The final
result of the bout, with Crawford winning a wide unanimous decision, scoring two knockdowns and
thoroughly dominating Postol, demonstrated that Team Crawford made a wise
choice. Led by head trainer Brian McIntyre, Team Crawford did its homework.
They realized that as good as Postol could be, almost everything flowed from
his jab. Without that punch, he wasn't nearly as effective at initiating
offense. They also believed that Crawford's athleticism, power and accuracy
would enable him to minimize the threat of Postol's right hand; Crawford could
beat Postol's straight right to the punch. And everything played out according
to plan.
However, it
wasn't just the southpaw stance that neutralized Postol's offense. Crawford's purposeful lateral movement played a large role as well. Throughout the fight, he circled away
from the jab towards the direction of Postol's right hand. Usually a fighter
will move away from an opponent's power hand but Crawford kept going to his
left and Postol was mostly ineffective.
In
another impressive strategic move, Crawford stayed out of range for most of the
fight. He'd dart in for quick shots and combos and then would get out. Postol
couldn't land his jab because he was too far away. Crawford's positioning in
the ring made Postol take chances to get closer. He lunged in with shots,
jabbed from too close once he got there and often paid a big price from Crawford's
power shots.
It was an
altogether fantastic game plan from McIntyre & Co. They thoroughly studied
their opponent and rendered him inoperable. In the other corner, Freddie Roach
didn't seem to have a Plan B, or one that could be effectively implemented by
Postol.
On offense,
Crawford used his improvisational gifts to find openings. He knocked Postol
down at the beginning of the fifth round with a right hook high on the side of
the head. He landed that same shot at a number of other points throughout the
fight, often at the start of a round or after a break. Postol never made
an adjustment. In other instances, Crawford noticed too wide of a space between Postol's gloves
and landed quick lead and counter left hands. These were openings that Crawford
spotted in the ring and he exploited them. He most likely didn't practice the
"circle right and throw a lead left hook high on the head to start a
round" in camp but he noticed a deficiency in Postol's defensive set-up
and took advantage of it.
Other
offensive moves were more practiced. I loved the way that he jabbed on the move,
which limited Postol's countershots. Also, he rarely stayed in front of Postol.
His offense usually started from an angle. All of these maneuvers were used to
minimize the effectiveness of an opponent who needed to set his feet to be
effective.
Crawford
demonstrated what an elite talent looks like. Dominating the second-best
fighter in the junior welterweight division, Crawford made it look like easy work.
Employing boxing, movement, perfectly timed countershots, power and a high Ring
IQ, Crawford displayed all his dimensions in the ring. Could he have taken more
chances offensively? Perhaps. But it wasn't as if he stunk out the joint. He
hurt Postol on a number of occasions, especially with the second knockdown in
the fifth round.
At just
28, Crawford has already become the top fighter in two divisions. With a number
of prime years left, the boxing world is seemingly his oyster. Many of the best American boxers currently patrol the welterweight division just seven pounds
north of where Crawford plies his trade and it wouldn't be difficult to see
him going after big fights at that weight. The thaw between Top Rank, his
promoter, and Al Haymon could produce a number of fascinating matchups. A
fight against Keith Thurman would be spectacular. How about a Crawford-Spence
bout later in 2017?
Crawford
will be in the running for Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent but I'd be pleasantly
surprised if Top Rank and Roach let Pacquiao take that fight. In the interim,
Crawford needs to stay on his current path. However, don't be surprised if Crawford's next truly meaningful
fight isn't until 2018. There's no rush for any top welterweight to
fight him and Crawford doesn't yet bring real money to the table. He's on
the path to superstardom but he'll need the right opponents for that to happen.
Lacking some natural magnetism, Crawford will need to build his fan base against top opposition. Eventually, someone notable will get brave.
Hopefully,
HBO Boxing, which has faced some budgetary pressures this year, will provide enough
financial backing to lure worthy opponents into the ring with Crawford. It was a
minor travesty that Saturday's fight was on pay per view in the U.S. Many boxing fans missed out on a truly sublime performance. Crawford isn't yet a pay per view
fighter and he still needs more exposure on HBO's World Championship Boxing
platform. In the past, the HBO-Top Rank partnership has
done a wonderful job of turning elite fighters into superstars. Let's hope that they
still have the magic formula. Crawford is worthy of it.
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
Adam Abramowitz is the head writer and founder of saturdaynightboxing.com.
He is also a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
@snboxing on twitter, SN Boxing on Facebook
Contact Adam at saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com
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