OMAHA, Neb. -- When Terence Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) fights in his hometown of Omaha, Neb. it seems like the entire state descends upon the arena. On Oct. 13 those corn huskers will get to watch their hometown hero defend his WBO welterweight title against the undefeated Jose Benavidez Jr. (27-0, 18 KOs) on ESPN.
Not many fighters can switch so seamlessly from the orthodox to southpaw stance, but Crawford sure can. As an orthodox fighter Crawford flashes a good left hook along with a hard straight right hand. While his jab is good from both stances, he seems to be even more dangerous as a southpaw, which is the stance he spends the most time in. As a southpaw Crawford has a very hard jab to go along with a brutal right hook that inflicts plenty of pain. Making Crawford even harder to beat is the fact that he's also very good defensively. The only real knocked against the Nebraska native is that he tends to start slow, but that is because he uses the first few rounds to figure his opponent out before going about dismantling them.
Crawford is currently ranked as the second best pound-for-pound fighter by Big Time Boxing behind Vasyl Lomachenko. However, those two top spots are really just a coin flip and Crawford could easily be considered the best fighter in the sport. It isn't just that Crawford beats his opponents, he makes it look easy. Benavidez will be Crawford's second opponent in the welterweight division after moving up from the junior welterweight division where he was the undisputed champion. Among Crawford's victims are fighters like Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Raymundo Beltran, John Molina Jr., Viktor Postol, and most recently, Jeff Horn. While everyone is buzzing about an eventual showdown between Crawford and fellow welterweight beast, Errol Spence Jr., that fight only happens if Crawford keeps winning and that starts by taking care of business against Benavidez.
Benavidez is a young welterweight who fights out of the orthodox stance. Standing at 6-feet, 2-inches he is incredibly tall for the division and will have a 6-inch height advantage and a 3-inch reach advantage over Crawford. He is the type of fighter who likes to stand right in front of his opponent and he doesn't use his feet very much, or very well. While his jab is heavy he doesn't have the fastest hands. His best punch is his right hand that lands with a thud and he loves to mix things up on the inside and does a tremendous job of attacking the body. Another thing Benavidez has going for him is the fact that he's a very rugged fighter and although he gets tagged with plenty of heavy leather, he's never been dropped as a pro.
Crawford represents a massive step up in competition for Benavidez. He did hand Frank Rojas his first career loss via first round knockout in his last fight but Rojas, like Benavidez, had never been tested against the best. Perhaps the two biggest names on Benavidez's resume are Jorge Paez Jr. and Mauricio Herrera, who are both good fighters but nowhere near the level of Crawford. Benavidez does have youth and size on his side though and will need to use every inch of that size to his advantage if he wants to earn the biggest victory of his career.
This will be a bought that is fought in different phases. Benavidez will look good in the opening phase because Crawford is typically a slow starter. In the early rounds Benavidez will find success, largely due to his size advantage. For a few rounds Crawford will need to find the proper distance before he really starts heating up. Look for Benavidez to come out strong and try to make this a rough inside fight. However, once Crawford finds the distance he should control the action. Crawford has the faster hands and better footwork and his ability to switch stances will greatly bother Benavidez. While Crawford usually spends the majority of his fights out of the southpaw stance look for him to spend plenty of time in the orthodox stance in this fight. The reason being that Benavidez doesn't do a great job of protecting his chin when he throws his jab and that will leave plenty of counter opportunities with the left hook from Crawford.
PREDICTION: Jose Benavidez Jr. has never been dropped or stopped as a professional fighter. He's also never had to face an opponent like Terence Crawford. Once Crawford heats up he will take control and while Benavidez will sustain the attack for as long as he can, he won't see the final round. Crawford's skilled and accurate offense will be too much for Benavidez and Crawford will stop him in the 10th round.
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| Crawford catching Jeff Horn with a stiff jab |
Crawford is currently ranked as the second best pound-for-pound fighter by Big Time Boxing behind Vasyl Lomachenko. However, those two top spots are really just a coin flip and Crawford could easily be considered the best fighter in the sport. It isn't just that Crawford beats his opponents, he makes it look easy. Benavidez will be Crawford's second opponent in the welterweight division after moving up from the junior welterweight division where he was the undisputed champion. Among Crawford's victims are fighters like Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Raymundo Beltran, John Molina Jr., Viktor Postol, and most recently, Jeff Horn. While everyone is buzzing about an eventual showdown between Crawford and fellow welterweight beast, Errol Spence Jr., that fight only happens if Crawford keeps winning and that starts by taking care of business against Benavidez.
Benavidez is a young welterweight who fights out of the orthodox stance. Standing at 6-feet, 2-inches he is incredibly tall for the division and will have a 6-inch height advantage and a 3-inch reach advantage over Crawford. He is the type of fighter who likes to stand right in front of his opponent and he doesn't use his feet very much, or very well. While his jab is heavy he doesn't have the fastest hands. His best punch is his right hand that lands with a thud and he loves to mix things up on the inside and does a tremendous job of attacking the body. Another thing Benavidez has going for him is the fact that he's a very rugged fighter and although he gets tagged with plenty of heavy leather, he's never been dropped as a pro.
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| Benavidez tagging Jorge Paez Jr. with a thudding jab |
This will be a bought that is fought in different phases. Benavidez will look good in the opening phase because Crawford is typically a slow starter. In the early rounds Benavidez will find success, largely due to his size advantage. For a few rounds Crawford will need to find the proper distance before he really starts heating up. Look for Benavidez to come out strong and try to make this a rough inside fight. However, once Crawford finds the distance he should control the action. Crawford has the faster hands and better footwork and his ability to switch stances will greatly bother Benavidez. While Crawford usually spends the majority of his fights out of the southpaw stance look for him to spend plenty of time in the orthodox stance in this fight. The reason being that Benavidez doesn't do a great job of protecting his chin when he throws his jab and that will leave plenty of counter opportunities with the left hook from Crawford.
PREDICTION: Jose Benavidez Jr. has never been dropped or stopped as a professional fighter. He's also never had to face an opponent like Terence Crawford. Once Crawford heats up he will take control and while Benavidez will sustain the attack for as long as he can, he won't see the final round. Crawford's skilled and accurate offense will be too much for Benavidez and Crawford will stop him in the 10th round.
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