Crawford vs Postol results: Terence Crawford dominates, unifies WBO and WBC belts

If there was still something to prove for Terence "Bud" Crawford -- and there was — he proved a lot of it tonight. Crawford, considered the No. 1 fighter in the 140-pound division coming in, dominated the No. 2 fighter, Viktor Postol, winning by unanimous decision.

Scores were 117-108, 118-107, and 118-107. BLH also had it 118-107 for Crawford, who remains undefeated at 29-0 (20 KO), and hands Postol (28-1, 12 KO) his first loss.

Like we’ve seen many times now with Crawford, he started slow with a tactical, almost scouting approach, with Postol taking two of the first three rounds. But once Crawford had Postol scouted, he had his number. From the fourth round on, Postol didn’t really do much of anything effectively, as Crawford not only was faster and a better puncher, but he was slicker, lighter on his feet, and smarter.

Crawford largely used his footwork to keep a comfortable range, looking to dart in at times, or crack Postol with a counter shot when the Ukrainian took any sort of risk. Crawford neutralized his opponent in this fight, taking his punch output down to almost nothing by the later rounds, and seemed to have Postol mentally defeated by about the eighth round.

Postol went down twice in the fight, both times in the fifth round. He was dropped seconds into that frame with a right hook, which put his knee on the canvas, and was correctly ruled a knockdown by referee Tony Weeks. Weeks then made another good call, seeing Postol’s left hand touch the canvas after he was cracked by a left from Crawford, who spent about 99% of the fight as a southpaw. Postol staggered back and tried to retreat, with Crawford chasing him. When his hand touched down, Weeks again rightly called the knockdown.

Postol also lost a point in the 11th round for hitting behind the head, but the fight was really over at that point.

All in all, it was a pretty masterful performance from the 28-year-old native of Omaha, Neb., whose fans turned up once again on the road, and made for a fun atmosphere, with an attendance that actually cared about the fighter they were there to see.

Crawford landed 141 of 388 (36%) of his total punches, including 107 of 216 (50%). Postol landed just 83 of 244 (34%) total punches, going 55 of 137 (40%) on power shots.

"I just stick to what I know. Boxing. They say he got the best jab in the world in my division, I proved different today," Crawford said of his win. "Everybody kept saying I was running from him, I was scared of him. We wanted the fight. We asked for the fight. I don’t know why it didn’t happen sooner, but it happened, and we’re here now."

When asked about the potential of fighting Manny Pacquiao on November 5, Crawford more or less brushed it off with his trademark low key confidence.

"It’s whatever. I’ll let my coaches handle that," he said. "I’ve told y’all a million times, I’m a fighter. I’ll fight anybody. I’m looking for all the biggest and best fights to get me to that next level."