Terence Crawford improved to 27-0 (19 KO) last night on HBO, stopping Dierry Jean in the 10th round of their main event in Omaha, scoring three knockdowns along the way and dominating the fight.
Crawford, 28, now has his sights set on a potential April 9 fight with Manny Pacquiao, who is reportedly going to fight once more and retire. If that fight comes together, it could be a passing of the torch at Top Rank, or it could be a trap fight. As good as Terence Crawford is, let's not forget how good Manny Pacquiao can be.
But let's focus for now on last night's win. Jean (29-2, 20 KO) was competitive when he lost to Lamont Peterson in January 2014, a bit out of his depth but able to find ways to stay in the fight against a more well-rounded fighter. Crawford, however, proved an entirely different level, and Jean's only successes were a few right hands that got in, which seemed to annoy Crawford more than bother him. His speed, skill, and ambidextrousness gave Jean fights stylistically. Crawford's mean streak, however, allowed him to hurt Jean and close the show.