Terence Crawford is still perfect.
Crawford (39-0, 30 KO) defended his undefeated record and retained his WBO welterweight title with a highlight-reel sixth-round knockout of David Avanesyan (29-4-1, 17 KO) on Friday at the Chi Health Center in Omaha, Neb.
Check out replay of Crawford’s knockout below, courtesy of IFL TV.
Terence Crawford’s sixth round KO of David Avanesyan
— IFL TV (@IFLTV) December 11, 2022
Who next for Bud then?#CrawfordAvanesyan #Boxing #Knockout pic.twitter.com/YgwuKMUBhK
For more on Crawford vs. Avanesyan, check out Bad Left Hook’s live blog for the bout.
Round 1: Crowd definitely “up” for their guy Bud. First time all night they’ve sounded awake. I mean they came early, sure, but it’s Omaha. What were they gonna do this evening otherwise? Good right hand early from Avanesyan as Crawford feels it out early. Avanesyan will come to win this, same as Mean Machine did, same as others have. He’s not a bum. Crawford switches southpaw and starts moving his hands a bit more. Avanesyan short on a lead right. Tarver almost orgasms over a punch that almost lands; like the punch was short, he stopped himself short. Body shot from Bud, kind of probing with the back hand there. Avanesyan blocks a straight left with the gloves. Avanesyan landed the best punch, he gets the round. Avanesyan 10-9.
Round 2: Avanesyan staying right on the front foot, keeping the pressure on. Crawford looking for the openings and definitely fighting more offensively this round. Avanesyan still landing some shots. Heads clash, Avanesyan in some minor pain but no stop in the action. Avanesyan also switching stances here. You can absolutely see how Avanesyan has so thoroughly run over guys at European level; everything he does is designed to break down lesser fighters. And you can see why he’s struggled at higher levels than that. Crawford 10-9, 19-19.
Round 3: Avanesyan with another good left hand early in the round. Then Crawford whacks him back, but Avanesyan was throwing with him, too. Avanesyan at times squaring up instead of getting into one stance or another. Crawford throwing more shots, landing some more. Avanesyan is staying with the same approach, marching forward. Crawford moving, staying at a range where Avanesyan can’t do anything but march forward, really. Crawford getting the better of things, still sort of reading the fight and gradually picking up his own pace, in little pieces. Crawford 10-9, 29-28.
Round 4: Avanesyan having less real success as each round goes by. Crawford making those small adjustments. But Avanesyan lands two decent shots right after I say that, about a minute into the round. Bud seems to want Avanesyan to walk onto something if he can force that; I think he’s confident he can flip the switch at some point and until he feels it’s needed, he’s trying to let Avanesyan make mistakes. Avanesyan, though, not making the big mistakes, and he’s having real success this round, in fact. And then Bud flips the switch a hair and lands good shots. He’s on the front foot in the final minute and Avanesyan is stuck in the mud, Crawford turned the speed up and just started taking him apart. Too much speed. I still think Avanesyan wins this round, and landed a good shot right before the bell. But you get the feeling Bud might be about to get at it. Avanesyan 10-9, 38-38.
Round 5: Let’s see if Bud has decided to start getting after it. I think he has, but Avanesyan is there to fight him. And Bud not overly pressing it. If you love stance-switching, this is the fight for you. Right hand Avanesyan. Crawford jabbing more, maybe reading that Avanesyan isn’t going to get instantly overwhelmed on anything just yet. Avanesyan cutting off the ring pretty well, or at least doing his best. Crawford with a nice shot to the body. Left hand gets through for Bud. Now he’s standing his ground center ring. Avanesyan right in his face and eats an uppercut for his trouble. Left from Avanesyan, though. Good round! Good fight. Crawford 10-9, 48-47.
Round 6: Well we’ve got a clear glove issue for Terence but the fight goes on. We’ll see if they get the extra set and make him change between rounds. Avanesyan with a nice right hook, Crawford throws back, but Avanesyan staying in the pocket, and throws back and lands a couple shots himself. Right hook to the body from Crawford. Good uppercuts from Crawford. He’s using those a lot. Avanesyan felt a body shot there, Bud’s turning it up this round. Laser focused at the moment. Uppercut and then back to the body. Avanesyan now getting overwhelmed. DOWN GOES AVANESYAN AND THIS FIGHT IS OVER!
