By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten WBO Welterweight Champion Jeff Horn of Australia will be defending his title for the second time this Saturday, June 9th when he takes on unbeaten two-division world champ Terence Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska. The 12-round bout takes place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and can be seen live in the U.S. On ESPN+. Fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it live on BoxNation. Horn last fought in December when he stopped Gary Corcoran in the 11th round. Crawford’s last outing was in August when he stopped Julius Indongo in the third round.
The 30-year-old Horn, who’s a former physical education teacher, will climb through the ropes with a near-perfect record of 18-0-1 with 12 Kos to his name. He’s a former Olympian who reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 Games in London, England as a junior welterweight. He turned pro the next year and has fought 117 rounds since then. Horn has also won a few inter-continental titles along the way before taking Manny Pacquiao’s world title via a gift decision last July.
Horn has also beaten the likes of Ali Funeka, Randall Bailey, Ahmed El Mousaoui and Rico Mueller with his draw being a three-round technical affair with Rivan Cesaire in August of 2013. That fight was halted due to a cut suffered by Cesaire. Horn stands 5-feet-9-inches tall and has a 68-inch reach. He has decent power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 63 per cent. He’s not a finesse boxer as he relies on his aggression to win fights, and so far he’s been quite successful at it.
The 30-year-old former lightweight and super lightweight champion Crawford enters the ring with a perfect record of 32-0 with 23 Kos. He possesses excellent foot and hand speed and better-than-average power. He’s an accurate puncher who sometimes changes to southpaw and owns a solid chin, but sometimes gets off to a slow start. Basically, Crawford is the total package and is considered as one boxing brightest stars. He’s 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 70-inch reach which means he’s an inch shorter than Horn with a two-inch reach advantage.
Crawford had an excellent amateur career and has boxed 168 rounds since turning pro in 2008. He owns wins over the likes of Thomas Dulorme, Raymundo Beltran, Dierry Jean, Hank Lundy, Breidis Prescott, Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol, John Molina Jr., Felix Diaz and Indongo. He’s also got power to go along with his skills with a current knockout ratio of 72 per cent. He beat Dulorme by sixth-round stoppage for the vacant WBO title in April, 2015 and defended it five times.
He also defended the WBC crown three times after winning it from Postol by unanimous decision in July, 2016. He then became the undisputed Lightweight Champion with last year’s win over Indongo as he added the WBA and IBF belts to his collection. As mentioned, Crawford’s sometimes a slow starter, but improves as the fight goes on and he’s comfortable in both a boxing match and a slugfest. He’s regarded by most fans and experts as one of the world’s top pound-for-pound boxers for good reason.
Prediction…
Horn has proven to be quite a durable fighter with the limited skills he possesses. I didn’t agree with his decision over Pacquiao. He definitely had his moments and looked impressive, but didn’t do enough to win the fight. He also struggled at times against Corcoran. It’s very hard to imagine Horn outboxing Crawford and it’s just as hard to imagine stopping him as well. Crawford can be hit, but he’s shown a solid chin so far. Horn might have his moments in the fight, but will fall short in his attempt to retain the crown.
