The No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer on the planet Terence”Bud” Crawford is back in action, laying his WBO welterweight title on the line against undefeated Jose Benavidez Jr. that Saturday at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. The champion is a -2500 favorite in this fight with the challenger coming back in +1000.
Crawford has been preferred in every one of his last seven conflicts with an ordinary final line of -1335. The lowest odds of the WBO titleholder were -402 when he defended his title against Viktor Postol. The fight went the distance with Crawford earning the victory in July 2016. Meanwhile, Benavidez was favored in his last two bouts with an average closing line of -2646 and he won both of these fights by knockout.
Slimming Down Crawford vs Benavidez
Crawford (-2500) has been called the 2018 Fighter of the Year in the ESPYs at LA earlier this year, his second such award in his profession. The 31-year-old has a huge ability to switch from orthodox to southpaw, although he’s a pure orthodox fighter, keeping his opponents off balance as he peppers with his furious hand speed and power. Bud has a great expert record with 24 wins coming by way of T/KO.
Does the Nebraska native possess supreme offensive abilities, but his defensive motions are also equally as striking, rarely absorbing heavy shots. This is Crawford’s first title defense of the belt, having only moved into this weight class in June when he pumped out Jeff Horn to claim the title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Benavidez (+1000) has picked up back-to-back T/KO successes after getting his career apparently ended. The California native has been shot in the leg 2016 as he had been climbing the rankings to a championship fight and physicians warned he might never walk again. Not only is Benavidez fighting again but he is currently taking on one of the very best boxers in the world.
The 26-year-old won the 2009 Golden Gloves at the light welterweight division to make him that the youngest-ever Golden Gloves champion at 16 years of age. He trains with Freddy Roach, sparring with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, and he holds a perfect 27-0 record with 18 wins coming by knockout to the orthodox fighter.
Although Crawford is a three-division winner and is the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Jose Benavidez Jr. is a valid threat. He will have a four-inch achieve advantage within the champion and possesses comparable punching power. The largest issue is when the 26-year-old can penetrate that defensive wall that the 31-year-old can install. Benavidez was compared to the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. prior to the shooting and when he can return to form against Crawford, this may be a hell of a struggle.
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