Round 2: Morrell’s
corner urges him to push the fight. They don’t want him waiting as long as he was early. Morrell unloads a two-punch combination to the body. Short right hand by Morrell from inside the pocket. He digs another left hand into the body. Right hand over the top for him, followed by a straight shot that slips through the guard. Morrell blows a kiss to the crowd after that one. Morrell closes the distance and lands a series of inside blows. Morrell peppers Kalajdzic with his jab. Ooof, hard body shot. Kalajdzic just can’t get anything going. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Morrell. (20-18 Morrell.)
Round 8: Miller once again immediately puts Ruiz on the back foot. His workrate just continues to overwhelm Ruiz right now. Ruiz sticking to single shots while Miller is throwing in combinations. Miller plods forward and slams a heavy jab in Ruiz’s face. Ruiz allows himself to get stuck in the corner. Now Miller’s activity has slowed as well. Miller doubles up on his jab then goes to the body. MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Miller. (76-76 overall.)
A two-time gold medalist at the amateur level, Madrimov turned pro in 2018. The man from Uzbekistan beat Magomed Kurbanov in March via TKO to win the vacant WBA super welterweight title. It was his seventh win via the power punch.
It was an absolute clinic from three-division champion Crawford, also previously undisputed at light-welterweight, dropping a stunned Spence to the canvas for the first time in his professional career at the end of round two and twice more in the seventh before a one-sided beatdown was finally halted by the referee in round nine.
"If the money is right, we gotta fight," said Crawford with a smile. "He’s got a fight that he’s gotta win and I’m going home to my family. I want to enjoy all my accomplishments in the sport of boxing."
terrence crawford record defeated Spence via ninth-round technical knockout to become the first male to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the four belt era. The fight reportedly sold 700,000 PPV buys, generating over $59 million in revenue. It also generated over $20 million from ticket sales.
Left hand lead misses for Crawford. Clean right hand lands for Crawford who now wants to dig to the body. Crawford lands a few clean shots to the head during an exchange. Crawford lands a jab. Another awkward collision from the fighters who clash heads again. Right hook lands well for Porter, then another! Porter loops another right hook upstairs. Now Porter lands a clean jab upstairs. Close round that I’m going to slightly edge to Crawford.
Crawford can now look to cement his legacy as one of the greatest boxers in history by moving on to other mega fights, but there is an automatic rematch clause for Spence, and despite the way this one went, a sequel could be in the cards.
Crawford’s trainer warns him not to allow Porter to get off combinations while he just covers up. Both fighters trade and land to start the round. Left hook lands for Crawford. Hard right hook lands to the body for Crawford now. Crawford attacking more here and now Porter charges back but gets tangled with Crawford along the ropes. Crawford goes to the body with a left hand. Clean left hand from Crawford lands on Porter. Porter tries a big right hook that doesn’t land. Another head clash and this time Crawford is cut above his brow. Two punches from Crawford miss. Crawford lands a combination on Porter coming forward. Porter presses through and wants to dig it out on the inside. Chopping left lands for Porter on the inside.
Porter did all the damage in this round. He was really aggressive and had moments of landing hard combinations, especially early on in the clinch. Crawford looked content to just let Porter wail on him. He did come on strong later in the round.
A more confident Álvarez emerged from his win Saturday after three unsatisfactory performances, a stretch that began with a loss to Dmitry Bivol in his second career light heavyweight (175 pounds) bout. He then wasn’t impressive in wins over Golovkin and John Ryder.
Crawford vs. Spence is essentially a 50-50 fight, meaning a strong case can be made for either man. Both men can box, both can punch and both have experience in big fights. The difference is that Crawford is the quicker, better, more dynamic athlete of the two. I see Crawford beating Spence to the punch; getting in, doing damage and getting out without taking much punishment; and using his superior footwork to maintain distance that’s advantageous to him. In other words, he’ll be a
step ahead of Spence for most of the fight. I don’t know whether he will be able to take out Spence but he’ll record a clear victory.
Round 8: Crawford goes head-hunting with a right hook that misses, but a left hook lands with impact. And now a flurry of hooks from the champ with Kavaliauskas up against the ropes. The champ's ferocity is on full display. "Bud" is willing to take a shot to land a flurry as he gains steam. (10-9, Crawford; 79-72, Crawford)
