Heading into Saturday's fight against Kell Brook, the only knock on Terence Crawford was that he hadn't faced the upper crust of the welterweight division. Many considered the Englishman to be his toughest test to date.
Crawford made a case for being the top fighter in the world by overcoming a slow start to score a fourth-round TKO to retain his WBO welterweight championship at "The Bubble" from the MGM Grand conference ballroom in Las Vegas, Nev. DAZN News had the fight scored 30-27 for Brook before the stoppage.
With Crawford taking his time, Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) took advantage of the opening three rounds. He kept Crawford at bay by using a stiff jab and the straight right hand. Crawford looked a little befuddled as he continued to switch stances with some success but not enough to gain an advantage. But it just seemed to be a matter of time as Crawford started to get into a flow halfway through the third round, connecting with the left hand and using his speed advantage to slither away from Brook's attempted power shots.
The Nebraska native came out with a different look to begin the fourth round that paid in dividends rather quickly. Crawford threw a chopping right hand over the top of a Brook jab that severely wobbled the former champion and sent his head through the middle rope to score a knockdown. Brook took the count to recover but it only delayed the inevitable. Smelling blood in the water, Crawford smashed Brook with piston-like left hands, which forced referee Tony Weeks to step in to put an end to the onslaught at the 1:14 mark.
The question is now what will be next for Crawford. People want to see Crawford take on unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. if he can get by Danny Garcia on Dec. 5 or eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Crawford's promoter Bob Arum feels Spence doesn't want anything to do with his fighter, and talks will be revisited for a Pacquiao bout in the Middle East in the first quarter or early second quarter of 2021.
Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) is now 15-0 with 12 knockouts in championship fights and has won his last eight via stoppage.
Terence Crawford vs. Kell Brook fight card results
- Terence Crawford def. Kell Brook by TKO at 1:14 of the fourth round to retain the WBO Welterweight title
- Joshua Franco and Andrew Maloney ends in a no-contest
- Joshua Greer Jr. and Edwin Rodriguez go to a majority draw (77-75 Rodriguez, 76-76, 76-76)
- Raymond Muratalla def. Luis Porozo by knockout at 2:40 of the third round
- Vegas Larfield def. Juan Alberto Flores via TKO at 1:07 of the third round
- Duke Regan def. Sebastian Gutierrez by unanimous decision (40-35, 40-35, 40-35)