HBO PPV Fight Preview (Main Event)

Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol

While the casual fan may not be eagerly anticipating Saturday night, boxing heads can't wait.  That is because on Saturday rising star Terence Crawford is set to take on the skilled Viktor Postol and both men happen to hold perfect records.  The fight isn't just your average title fight though, it is a junior welterweight unification bout where the WBO and WBC belts will both be up for grabs.  It can be argued that this will be the toughest fight for both men and since both are so highly skilled this fight is like a sweet science lovers wet dream.

Crawford seems to fight better after getting hit

There aren't many other pugilists with the skill set of Crawford.  He is listed as an orthodox fighter, and usually begins fights that way, but he actually fights more out of the southpaw stance.  The scary thing is that whichever stance Crawford uses he is dangerous.  As an orthodox fighter Crawford shows a nice jab and left hook and his straight right hand is an accurate weapon.  However, as a southpaw his jab is even stiffer and his right hook is no joke.  Another thing Crawford has going for him is his defense.  Crawford has shown he has good defensive skills but he is also the type of guy who flat out likes to fight and he usually fights better after he's eaten a few clean punches.  Like many other fighters with high ring intelligence Crawford is also a slow starter who uses the first few rounds to figure his opponent and and adapt.  

Crawford has never lost a fight as a professional fighter and he has also ended his last three fights with a knockout.  His career record is 28-0 with a strong 20 knockouts and he already has some quality wins on his resume as he moves up in weight while his star grows bigger with every fight.  Some of Crawford's more impressive wins have come against Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Hank Lundy.  In the past Crawford has been able to handle every opponent put in front of him due to his superior skills.  However, on Saturday night he will face off against a fighter who is also highly skilled.

Postol impressed by stopping Matthysse

Postol is an orthodox fighter who will have a height and reach advantage over Crawford.  That advantage could play a huge role in this fight because Postol uses both his height and reach extremely well and is capable of picking opponents apart from the outside.  Postol is a patient fighter with an excellent jab and a good straight right hand.  While his record indicates that he doesn't have much power in recent fights he has shown his punches can do damage.  He turns his left hook over quickly and on the inside he will let loose with uppercuts that are dangerous.  

Like Crawford, Postol has some nice wins on his resume.  While he has beaten the likes of Selcuk Aydin and Lundy most people really took notice of him when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in late 2015.  As a pro Postol has a record of 28-0 with 12 knockouts and a win over Crawford would really take his career to new heights.

One thing to take note of is the layoff that Postol is coming off of.  Crawford last fought in February of 2016 but Postol hasn't been in the ring since beating Mattyhsse in October of 2015.  Postol needs to be sharp in this fight so hopefully he doesn't show any ring rust.  The height and reach of Postol could be big in this fight because if he can keep his jab busy and control the distance he does have the skills to box his way to a decision win.  Postol doesn't love going to war on the inside though so look for Crawford to try to rough things up.  It isn't often that two highly skilled undefeated fighters put their belts on the line and face each other so Saturday's fight should be a special one.

PREDICTION: On paper this is pretty much a 50/50 fight.  Both Viktor Postol and Terence Crawford are highly skilled and both have some pop on their punches, although Crawford has more of it.  Postol should be able to build an early lead on the slow starting Crawford but eventually Crawford will find his rhythm and start to show why he is so good as he adapts and wins the late rounds on his way to a close split decision win.