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Top Rank has announced via press release that unbeaten WBO champion Terence Crawford will defend his title against once-beaten Dierry Jean in his native Nebraska this coming October.
The first press conference will be held this coming Monday at 2:00 PM EST and will be streamed on toprank.tv.
Crawford (26-0, 18 KO) earned ESPN's "Fighter of the Year" for 2014 with excellent performances against Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Ray Beltran, The Gamboa fight was especially spectacular, as Crawford dropped "El Ciclon de Guantanamo" four times before stopping him in the ninth.
He moved up to 140 earlier this year, stopping Thomas Dulorme in six rounds.
Jean's (29-1, 20 KO) major fight of note was his clash with Lamont Peterson early last year, which resulted in his first career loss. He's since won four straight as a lightweight, three by knockout, and defeated Jerry Belmontes in June.
Jean doesn't pose much of a threat to Crawford, but he's by no means a bad fighter, and if Crawford is indeed gunning for a fight with Pacquiao next year, he could've done a whole lot worse in filling the space between now and then.