HBO Fight Preview

Terence Crawford vs. Dierry Jean

Saturday night HBO will bring fans a live fight along with a few replays.  The replays will be of last week's HBO PPV headlined by a fight between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux.  That fight will be replayed along with the co-feature which pitted Roman Gonzalez against Brian Viloria.  After those fights the live action will start when Big Time Boxing's 2014 Fighter of the Year Terence Crawford takes on Dierry Jean in a 12-round bout for Crawford's WBO junior welterweight title from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Dulorme was no match for Crawford

Crawford is in his prime at 28 years old and he recently cracked Big Time Boxing's top 10 pound-for-pound list at the 10 spot.  The reason he made the list is because he does it all which includes switching from his usual orthodox stance to fight as a southpaw, and he may actually be more dangerous as a lefty.  Crawford first made people notice his talent when he was a late fill-in Breidis Prescott and showed off his excellent defense.  That defense is still top notch as is Crawford's ring IQ.  He isn't just a defensive fighter though, Crawford actually seems to fight better once he has tasted some leather and in the orthodox stance he shows a good jab that he follows with a stiff straight right hand.  To make matters worse for his opponents he also carries a strong left hook.  Then if they figure that out he will switch to southpaw where his jab is even better and his right hook is a dangerous weapon.  Perhaps worst of all for Crawford opponents is that he can take the lead or stay back and counter and he can win fights either way.

Saturday will be Crawford's second time fighting in the junior welterweight division after clearing out every name the lightweight division had to offer.  Crawford actually fought a time or two as a junior welterweight before he became a big name but now he is a legitimate junior welterweight.  He already has some nice wins on his resume with wins over Prescott, Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Raymundo Beltran and he will look to add one more on Saturday night.  As it stands now Crawford has a perfect record of 26-0 with 18 knockouts and while his knockout rate doesn't jump off the page at you he is definitely a boxer-puncher, he just happens to be much more skilled than other fighters who fall into that category.  In his last fight Crawford destroyed fringe contender Thomas Dulorme but Dierry Jean should be a tougher test for the Nebraska based fighter. 

Jean didn't fare well in step up fights before

Jean is a fighter with fast hands who can find success on the outside or from the pocket out of the orthodox stance.  From the outside Jean will throw a good jab and a hard straight right hand but he actually fights better on the inside.  In close Jean does a nice job of banging his left hook to the body which is his best punch but he also has a heavy right hand.  Along with those weapons Jean lands uppercuts from the pocket and he usually puts his combinations together well and he throws short punches.  Jean usually likes to play the role of aggressor and while some have had success doing that against Crawford, that success doesn't usually last long.  Something to take note of is that while Jean isn't great defensively and while he does eat his fair share of leather he has never been down as a pro.  One problem for Jean going into this fight though is that he isn't the most technically skilled fighter so Crawford may be able to beat him from the outside or in close.  

Crawford will not be the first big name that Jean has faced in his career.  In early 2014 he took on Lamont Peterson, his toughest foe to date, and lost a unanimous decision.  On Saturday Jean hopes to avoid that same fate.  Since that loss Jean has gone 4-0 with three knockouts but all of those fighters came against much lesser fighter than Peterson or Crawford are.  Jean, whose career started in 2006 has put together a record of 29-1 with a strong 20 knockouts but Crawford represents the toughest challenge or his career.  At 33 years old the time is now for Jean to get to the next level or be relegated to gatekeeper for young prospects looking for a tough challenge.

When Crawford has had tough moments in fights, which doesn't happen often, they come early in fights when he is still trying to figure his opponent out.  Because of this Jean should look to start early and use his hand speed and power punching to the body to try and hurt Crawford, or at least get respect from him.  It won't be easy for Jean to win this fight considering Crawford is the better fighter from the outside and may even be better from the pocket as well.  While Jean isn't the biggest name in the junior welterweight division he is a good opponent for Crawford who needs to be careful not to look passed him and onto bigger and better things.

PREDICTION: Simply put, Terence Crawford is at a different level than Dierry Jean.  That is no disrespect to Jean who is a good fighter but Crawford isn't good, he is great.  That greatness will shine once again on Saturday night and Crawford will get the unanimous decision win to stay perfect and he will dominate the fight after the first few rounds.