Connect with us

Boxing

Terence Crawford admits that a punch from one of his rivals stiffened his whole body: “He hit me the hardest”

Published

on

Terence Crawford admits one rival’s punch made his body go stiff: “He hit me the hardest”

Terence Crawford gave an unexpected answer when asked to name the player who hit him the hardest, causing one side of his body to stiffen.

The former five-division world champion faced a selection of elite fighters, including Canelo Alvarez and Errol Spence Jr., before ending his illustrious career last year.

Despite the one-sided nature of their 2023 matchup, Spence was considered a heavy-handed operator at 147 pounds, finishing 22 of his 28 professional wins at the distance.

The same can, of course, be said about Canelo, who demonstrated his world-class strength in multiple weight classes before his September fight with Crawford.

However, Crawford, although struggling with a height disadvantage of 168 pounds, was still able to unanimously overtake the Mexican and become the undisputed three-division champion.

In addition to Spence and Canelo, the undefeated American also faced unsafe puncher Egidijus Kavaliauskas, who was believed to have scored a knockdown – which was deemed a mistake – during their 2019 welterweight bout.

But he dropped down to 135 pounds and, according to Crawford, was hit the hardest in a match against Olympic champion Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014.

The Cuban entered the fight as a former world featherweight champion, but still punched with enough force to elicit an urgent response from “Bud.”

For this reason, Crawford insisted SEND THE ENTIRE PODCAST that Gamboa, on a pound-for-pound basis, was the biggest hit he faced as a professional.

“It must be Gamboa. He surprised me when I walked up with my hands down – being cocky – and he just caught me [an extent that] one side of my body went stiff.

“It was like ‘boom’ – he shocked me. I thought, ‘Shit, now I have to get him out of there’.”

Forced to go through the gears, Crawford scored four knockdowns en route to a ninth-round stoppage victory over Gamboasuccessfully defending the WBO world title.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Boxing

Liam Smith Accused of Assault: Ex-World Champion Boxer Allegedly Punches Man on the Ground

Published

on

"Liam Smith Accused of Assault: Ex-World Champion Boxer Allegedly Punches Man on the Ground"

He added that the cameras also recorded Smith allegedly “pushing past people to resume the incident, punching someone on the floor”.

Judge Gilbart adjourned the hearing until 28 November. Smith was told to be ready to enter his pleas on that date.

The fighter, nicknamed ‘Beefy’, was granted bail with conditions not to contact Nke or to enter Manchester, unless to attend court, or for appointments with his solicitor.

Judge Gilbart fixed a provisional trial date for the week commencing 15 March 2028.

Smith, now of Formby in Sefton, was due to make a comeback in a fight on 4 September in Finland, but pulled out due to a calf injury, according to reports.

Smith, one of four brothers who all boxed professionally and all won titles at British level, has fought some of the biggest names in the sport including a defeat to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

More recently he fought British rival Chris Eubank Jr twice, defeating him in the first fight in January 2023, before suffering a defeat in the rematch eight months later.

Continue Reading

Boxing

Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Title Rematch

Published

on

"Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Title Rematch"

Oleksandr Usyk could be involved in one of the “biggest fights in cruiserweight history”, just so long as he is willing to drop back down to 200lbs.

The 39-year-old has not fought at the weight since 2018, when he became the undisputed king by dethroning Murat Gassiev with a wide points victory.

Usyk also defined his cruiserweight reign with a majority decision triumph over Mairis Briedis, before moving up in weight and becoming a two-division world champion.

He did so by dethroning Anthony Joshua in 2021, with the Ukrainian then winning their rematch and eventually facing Tyson Fury for all four major heavyweight belts.

Then, this past June, Usyk made the decision to vacate his titles after having become a two-division undisputed champion and secured a harder-than-expected 11th-round stoppage of former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.

Still, though, the decorated southpaw intends to fight for a short while longer and, according to Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, has mentioned a Fury trilogy and David Benavidez clash as possible options.

Speaking to Last Stand Podcastunified cruiserweight champion Benavidez said he would gladly face Usyk at his current fighting weight.

“The point I wanted to make when we’re talking about Usyk is: I don’t know if that would be at heavyweight or cruiserweight. Didn’t Usyk relinquish all his belts?

“In my opinion, it would be a bigger fight at cruiserweight because, once I capture this [WBC] title, that would be three belts [on the line]. It would probably be one of the biggest fights in cruiserweight history.”

While a potential Usyk showdown could be explored, Benavidez has already committed to facing WBC champion Michal Cieslak in December and verbally agreed to fight Jai Opetaia next year.

Continue Reading

Boxing

Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Belt Redemption

Published

on

"Unbeaten World Champion Challenges Oleksandr Usyk for Cruiserweight Belt Redemption"

Oleksandr Usyk could be involved in one of the “biggest fights in cruiserweight history”, just so long as he is willing to drop back down to 200lbs.

The 39-year-old has not fought at the weight since 2018, when he became the undisputed king by dethroning Murat Gassiev with a wide points victory.

Usyk also defined his cruiserweight reign with a majority decision triumph over Mairis Briedis, before moving up in weight and becoming a two-division world champion.

He did so by dethroning Anthony Joshua in 2021, with the Ukrainian then winning their rematch and eventually facing Tyson Fury for all four major heavyweight belts.

Then, this past June, Usyk made the decision to vacate his titles after having become a two-division undisputed champion and secured a harder-than-expected 11th-round stoppage of former kickboxer Rico Verhoeven.

Still, though, the decorated southpaw intends to fight for a short while longer and, according to Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, has mentioned a Fury trilogy and David Benavidez clash as possible options.

Speaking to Last Stand Podcastunified cruiserweight champion Benavidez said he would gladly face Usyk at his current fighting weight.

“The point I wanted to make when we’re talking about Usyk is: I don’t know if that would be at heavyweight or cruiserweight. Didn’t Usyk relinquish all his belts?

“In my opinion, it would be a bigger fight at cruiserweight because, once I capture this [WBC] title, that would be three belts [on the line]. It would probably be one of the biggest fights in cruiserweight history.”

While a potential Usyk showdown could be explored, Benavidez has already committed to facing WBC champion Michal Cieslak in December and verbally agreed to fight Jai Opetaia next year.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending