Terence Crawford finishes Jose Benavidez in the twelfthround to retain WBO title.
In the opening stanza, both fighters came out feeling each other out. The beginning of round two was similar to round one with both men being cautious. However, as the round drew to a close, both men opened up. The champion seemed to land the cleaner, more effective shots.
Round three saw Crawford to start to heat up and enter his comfort zone. Firing off shots to the body of Benavidez appeared to edge the round for the champion. Round four was Benavidez’s best round, he landed a nice right hand to the body of Crawford.
Rounds five and six were by far the best action rounds of the fight. Both men threw and landed some nice, hard shots. Benavidez landed some nice hard right hands in the sixth.
Rounds seven and eight were all Crawford as he landed combinations to the body and head of Benavidez, who didn’t do much. Round nine was another round dominated by Crawford with his movement and combination punching.
Round twelve came and that’s where it ended! Crawford put an exclamation mark on a dominant performance by stopping Benavidez in the final round. He landed a beautiful right uppercut that sent Benavidez down. Moments later, a right hook dropped Benavidez as the referee jumped in to halt the action.
With this victory now in the books, the attention will no doubt turn back to the prospects of a fight with Errol Spence.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
