For five rounds on Saturday night, Thomas Dulorme was more than holding his own with a passive Terence Crawford. Our card saw the Puerto Rican underdog up 59-55 after those five rounds, with Crawford, known to go easy early and scout his opponents, looking like maybe he'd let his 2014 success go to his head.
But right when you could say "Upset Watch" (and I did), Crawford apparently decided that enough was enough, got a single opening, and wrecked Dulorme (22-2, 14 KO) with a long right hand, which set in motion a series of three knockdowns, ending the fight and giving Crawford (26-0, 18 KO) a world title in a second weight class at age 27.
To be able to flip the switch the way Crawford did is extremely impressive. Dulorme is not a bad fighter -- he's certainly not elite, but he can box, and he wasn't beating himself in there. Crawford was letting rounds slip away, and Dulorme did enough to take them. But as Roy Jones Jr pointed out quite astutely, Dulorme was doing work, while Crawford was doing "boxing things," taking the time to read his opponent, certain that when he had the script, he'd turn it up and get the W. That's exactly what he did. Crawford's 2015 is off to a great start.