By Ian S Palmer
There’s a big junior welterweight world title unification bout this Saturday, July 23rd as undefeated American Terence Crawford will be taking on unbeaten Viktor Postol of Ukraine at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Crawford is the current WBO champion and Postol is the WBC champ. This 12-round bout somehow made it to the pay-per-view platform on HBO while fans in the UK can catch the action live on BoxNation. Crawford last fought in February and beat Hank Lundy by fifth-round stoppage. Postol’s last outing was in October when he beat Lucas Matthysse of Argentina for the vacant WBC title by a 10th-round stoppage.
The 28-year-old former lightweight champion Crawford enters the ring with a perfect record of 28-0 with 20 Kos while the -year-old Postol is also perfect at 28-0 with 12 Kos. Crawford has excellent foot and hand speed and better-than-average power. He’s an accurate puncher who sometimes changes to southpaw and has a good chin, but sometimes gets off to a slow start. Basically, Crawford is the total package and could definitely be one of America’s next boxing stars as he’s already well on his way to being one. Crawford, of Omaha, Nebraska, could eventually move up to the welterweight division at 147 lbs, but he can’t look past Postol, who’s also a good boxer with power and a solid chin.
Crawford of Omaha, Nebraska is 5-foot-8-inches tall with a 70-inch reach and has boxed 135 rounds since turning pro in 2008. Crawford also owns wins over the likes of Thomas Dulorme, Raymundo Beltran, Breidis Prescott, Ricky Burns and Yuriorkis Gamboa and his current knockout ratio stands at 71 per cent. Crawford isn’t impossible to hit and this should be his toughest test in the ring to date. Postol will have to stay on top of the American all night long though if he hopes to pull off a win. Crawford usually improves as the fight goes on and he’s comfortable in both a boxing match and a slugfest.
Postol is regarded as an excellent boxer who throws his punches in bunches. The 32-year-old has fought mainly in Ukraine and took a huge step up in class when he met Matthysse last year. Postol originally made a name for himself in the U.S. back in May of 2014 when he beat Selcuk Aydin by outboxing him all night long and then stopping him in the 11th round. It was the first time Aydin never made it the distance in 28 contests. Postol proved that stoppage wasn’t a flash in the pan though with his stoppage of Matthysse. Postol’s power could be underrated as his knockout ratio is just 43 per cent, but he certainly has a heavy punch.
Postol is trained by Freddie Roach and he has a three-inch height advantage as he stands 5-feet-11-inches tall with a reach of 73.5 inches. Postol had a fine amateur career with more than 300 bouts and is as technically sound as they come. He possesses better-than-average defensive qualities and is quite mobile in the ring. Postol has boxed 210 rounds since turning pro back in 2007.
Prediction……
This is a huge fight for both boxers as they’re looking to retain their world titles. Crawford seems to have it all, but that doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable. There will probably come a time when Crawford tastes defeat for the first time and it could be this Saturday. He’s skilled and determined though and when all’s said and done he should somehow manage to keep his belt and take Postol’s by the end of the fight.
