With 45 seconds remaining in their junior welterweight unification fight, Terence Crawford stuck his tongue out and shook his head at opponent Viktor Postol.
Crawford did whatever he wanted from start to finish in his 12-round unanimous decision victory Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, including have some fun in the final seconds.
The 28-year-old undefeated champion danced circles around Postol and peppered him with punches — dropping him twice in the fifth round.
“That’s boxing,” Crawford said as he smiled at his coaches after the final bell. “That’s movement and that’s boxing.”
After a slow start, Crawford poured it on in 118-107, 118-107 and 117-108 win to unify the World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Council titles.
His best round came the fifth, where he dropped Postol to his knee with a big punch just seconds into the round. He followed it up with a flurry that sent Postol stumbling across the ring before touching the canvas with his glove for a second knockdown.
While Crawford’s knockdowns drew the biggest applause from the crowd of more than 7,000, it was his defensive boxing was what really shined — bobbing, weaving and staying just out of Postol’s reach.
“Crawford was just too fast,” said Freddie Roach, who coached and cornered Postol. “It surprised me how fast he was. I’m very impressed with his talent. ”
The impressive victory sets up a possible super fight with Roach’s other fighter — Manny Pacquiao. The 37-year-old Pacquiao, who retired in April, has the Thomas & Mack Center booked for Nov. 5 against a to-be-determined opponent.
“It’s whatever,” Crawford said. “I’ll let my coaches handles that. I’m a fighter, and I’ll fight everybody. I’m looking for the biggest and best fights to get me to the next level.”
Crawford later said that he would love a fight with Pacquiao at 140 pounds.
Pacquiao’s last loss came to Floyd Mayweather Jr. who Crawford mimicked in his defensive masterpiece on Saturday night.
“Who hasn’t watched Floyd? He is one of the guys that I look up to as a fighter.” Crawford said. “They say (Postol) has got the best jab in the game, in my division, and I proved different today.”
The previously undefeated Postol had previously dominated his opponents with a stiff jab but couldn’t land it with any regularity against Crawford.
“It was a good fight between two technicians,” Postol said. “He was quicker than me. He’s one of the best fighters in the world and just didn’t have the answers tonight.”
Postol was the aggressor from the opening bell, but was unable to cut the ring off and corner Crawford.
“There was a lot of hesitation,” Roach said. “His speed had a lot to do with that. His speed was just unbelievable. He was just too fast.”
If a fight between Pacquiao and Crawford does happen somewhere down the line, the rivalry between their coaches will be in the spotlight.
“(Roach) talked all of that (stuff),” said Crawford’s coach Brian McIntyre. “He said we were amateurs and tonight we saw who the amateur was. They said we were in over our heads. Freddie Who?”
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