Tonight at 9 pm ET on HBO pay-per-view in the United States and BoxNation in the United Kingdom, unbeaten junior welterweights Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KO) and Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KO) headline a four-fight card from Las Vegas.
BLH will be here with live round-by-round coverage.
Crawford will be defending his WBO title, while Postol’s WBC belt is also on the line. Crawford last fought on February 27, stopping Hank Lundy in the fifth round. Postol has been inactive since last October, when he beat Lucas Matthysse.
On the undercard, Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KO) will face Matias Rueda (26-0, 23 KO) for the vacant WBO featherweight title; Jose Benavidez (24-0, 16 KO) will meet Francisco Santana (24-4-1, 12 KO) in a 10-round welterweight fight; and Oleksandr Gvozdyk (10-0, 8 KO) takes on Tommy Karpency (26-5-1, 15 KO) in a 10-round light heavyweight bout, which will open the pay-per-view.
Join us tonight!
* * * * *
RESULTS
Terence Crawford def. Viktor Postol by UD (117-108, 118-107, 118-107)
Oscar Valdez def. Matias Rueda by TKO (2:18 of round 2)
Jose Benavidez def. Francisco Santana by UD (100-90, 96-94, 97-93)
Oleksandr Gvozdyk def. Tommy Karpency by KO (2:21 of round 6)
* * * * *
ROUND BY ROUND
TERENCE CRAWFORD vs VIKTOR POSTOL
Round 1: Feeling out opening round, Postol flicking out a jab from distance, Crawford occasionally looking to counter, lands a power shot or two. Postol lands the best punch of the round to close it out. Postol 10-9
Round 2: Cerebral fight so far. Postol bouncing around, jittery, Crawford calm and smooth gliding around the ring. Crawford with a couple of good body shots. Good left from Crawford near the end of the round gets Postol's attention. Crawford 10-9, 19-19
Round 3: Postol's technically sound approach is giving Crawford some problems, but Crawford is landing the better shots early in the round. There's a right from Postol, though, caught him coming in. Crawford with a counter left. Good right again from Postol, and a good right to the chest. Postol 10-9, 29-28
Round 4: More "chess match" stuff early, then Crawford lands a big left, Postol trying to come back, Crawford lands another good left! Crawford keeps his hands going when Postol tries to clinch. Postol with a body shot. Good round here for Crawford, he followed Postol's best round with his own best round. Crawford 10-9, 38-38
Round 5: Crawford drops Postol seconds into the fifth round. Huge left from Crawford, and Postol is down again! Crawford has 1:30 to make something happen here. Postol's speed isn't cutting it. Crawford's is a clear advantage. Crawford 10-7, 48-45
Round 6: Postol trying to come straight in, clips Crawford with a right, but almost gets whacked in return. Good left to the body from Crawford. Another one gets in. Crawford's giving him nothing and Postol isn't forcing the issue effectively, either. Crawford 10-9, 58-54
Round 7: Postol not cutting the ring off at all. Crawford just in total control at this point, Postol can't win this fight unless something changes dramatically. Crawford finding shots from range now, too. Good left to the body after he misses a right hook up top. He's fought southpaw for basically the entire fight. Crawford 10-9, 68-63
Round 8: Crawford pops Postol immediately to start the round again. Postol looks mentally deflated and defeated at this point. HARD counter left from Crawford doesn't quite land clean, but thuds off of Postol all the same. The footwork, the speed, the whole package, Crawford is picking him apart. Postol just has no answers. Crawford 10-9, 78-72
Round 9: Crawford has Postol hurt with over a minute left. Crawford chasing and stalking, looking to finish. Can't quite find it, so he slows it back down and looks for another opening. This has become totally one-sided. Crawford 10-9, 88-81
Round 10: Crawford fighting safe but effectively, still winning rounds. Postol not taking risks, and giving himself zero chance. Crawford 10-9, 98-90
Round 11: Postol does open up some late, but doesn't land anything. Rest of the round is more of the same. It's not boring boring, but it's not exciting or anything, and that's largely on Postol. Crawford has no reason to take risks, and he's loanding shots. Postol also loses a point for a rabbit punch. Crawford 10-9, -1 for Postol, 108-98
Round 12: Well, at least Postol is winging it in the 12th. Crawford fires some crazy shots back, but then tries to slow it back down. Crawford decides to turn righty and look for the KO in final minute. Taunting Postol. Laughing in his face. Crawford 10-9, 118-107
OSCAR VALDEZ vs MATIAS RUEDA
Round 1: Valdez looking strong, fast, and just plain way better than Rueda in the first round. Busts him up, hurts him, lands clean shots, bloodies him, and Rueda may not be long for this fight. Surviving the round might be the best he's going to do. Valdez 10-9
Round 2: Rueda's defense is just not good enough. Valdez landing consistently. Valdez cracks him with a right, then another shot, and Rueda goes down on a delayed reaction from a hook to the body. Eight count, and he doesn't look confident. Valdez with another body shot, and it's over. Valdez TKO-2
JOSE BENAVIDEZ vs FRANCISCO SANTANA
Round 1: These guys are throwin', hoo-wee! Benavidez throwing a really hard jab early. Santana trying to push through it, coming in with his own good shots. Benavidez landing really good shots. Benavidez digging at the body a good bit, too. Some vicious shots. Great uppercut. Santana staying in the pocket and digging, too. Benavidez is THRASHING Santana right now, landing hard, hard shots. Santana staying up but he's getting hurt in there. Benavidez 10-9
Round 2: Benavidez is extremely determined tonight. Still early, but he's dominating. HUGE uppercut from Benavidez. Santana is pressing forward constantly but he's just getting rocked too often to keep this up for too long. Benavidez 10-9, 20-18
Round 3: Santana just keeping the pressure on. And he's got Benavidez leaning on the ropes. And he's beating up Benavidez for over a minute. And then he escapes and goes right back to the ropes. Santana having a really strong round here, and he's not out of this fight yet. Santana 10-9, Benavidez 29-28
Round 4: Benavidez looked determined in first two rounds. Last two he looks determined to lose. Benavidez is getting beaten up the last two rounds, and it's happening because he's just putting himself on the ropes and getting whaled on. Santana 10-9, 38-38
Round 5: Benavidez coming back in this round, not staying on the ropes. Doing that his power shots make the difference. Santana still doing a lot of work, but Benavidez making dents again. Benavidez 10-9, 48-47
Round 6: Santana getting hurt a little again this round -- well, hurt a little more on top of the punishment he's taken already. Benavidez landing those power shots again, hard blows getting in clean, and staying off the ropes more. But Santana IS getting him there now and again, and does unload when he gets there. Benavidez 10-9, 58-56
Round 7: Benavidez back on the ropes. Santana asks him to come off the ropes, basically. Benavidez declines. Santana just firing away. He's tired, but he's fighting hard. Benavidez is tired and not fighting hard. Santana 10-9, Benavidez 67-66
Round 8: 50/50 round here. Benavidez still landing some good clean shots, moving around more, and Santana just working, working, working. Benavidez edges it for me. Benavidez 10-9, 77-75
Round 9: Benavidez fighting smartly this round, picking shots at range, moving around better, and landing some shots in flurries from range, too. Benavidez really having a good round. Benavidez 10-9, 87-84
Round 10: I do like how Benavidez closed this fight. He still made some mistakes, but overall a solid performance against a tough, gutsy guy. Benavidez just better enough to win this fight. Benavidez 10-9, 97-93
OLEKSANDR GVOZDYK vs TOMMY KARPENCY
Round 1: Weights tonight: Gvozdyk 183, Karpency 185. Gvozdyk poking his jab out, Karpency looking for openings himself, not looking terribly overmatched so far. Gvozdyk pressing now, and WHOA! Down goes Gvozdyk on a right hook! Gvozdyk is hurt, too, as we resume. Gvozdyk trying to create distance, and Karpency more or less lets him. Gvozdyk lands a good right, but left hand from Karpency hurts Gvozdyk. Karpency 10-8
Round 2: Gvozdyk still seemingly getting himself set here, Karpency taking advantage and landing a bit again. He's looking like a good, smart veteran so far. Gvozdyk starting to find his rhythm, though. Not anything eye-popping yet, but he's looking calm and collected. Gvozdyk 10-9, Karpency 19-18
Round 3: Gvozdyk with a solid round here, outworking and outlanding Karpency. Class beginning to show right now, and he's gaining back the confidence that might have been lost in the first. Gvozdyk 10-9, 28-28
Round 4: Karpency had some kind of crisis of faith in the corner between rounds. Gvozdyk starting to frustrate him a bit, and now we're questioning Karpency's conditioning, as he took this on short notice. So did Gvozdyk, technically, but he was already training for a fight that was going to happen last weekend. Gvozdyk outworking him again, Karpency doing OK, but again, it's a matter of class showing somewhat. Karpency does land a straight left to the chest. Gvozdyk 10-9, 38-37
Round 5: Oh heavens, Roy has lost his mind cackling at Jim calling a dude a "cutie." Gvozdyk having a decent round, Karpency cut on the bridge of the nose now, and he turns it up late in the round. He might feel like it's now or never. Karpency looking discouraged at the end of the round. Gvozdyk 10-9, 48-46
Round 6: Karpency just basically hanging around now. I mean, he's still trying, but Gvozdyk is in firm control. Hard body shot with about a minute left in the round, and Karpency takes a knee. Great shot, and Karpency is giving it up, bloodied and hurt. Gvozdyk TKO-6