Terence Crawford Retains WBO Welterweight Title, KOs Kell Brook

The WBO welterweight title stayed in Terence Crawford’s possession after his victory over Kell Brook. The American was routine, delivering a knockout at 1:14 of the fourth round.

“Dre,” Crawford called the former undefeated champion Andre Ward from the ring. “I’ve told them, they don’t know how strong I am.”

Following the opening three rounds in which Brook had the advantage according to scorecards and was looking well overall, came the moment once Crawford just exploded. His right hand sent the Brit to the ropes, dazzling the challenger who didn’t know what happened.

“Dre, they don't know how strong I am." @AndreWard never doubted @TerenceCrawford’s strength 💪 pic.twitter.com/43sOev3rMP

— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) November 15, 2020

Even though he didn’t fell to the ground, Brook was in a knockdown, with the referee counting and allowing the fight to continue. Crawford didn’t wait for too long before using his right hand again, smashing the Brit who tried to hide from the further beating but unsuccessfully.

It was a display of the champion’s ruthless domination, as he allowed the rival to expose himself in the beginning and feel comfortable before blitzing him. That worked just fine, as Brook believed that he could compete with Crawford, due to the false control over the opening rounds.

Following the match, Brook told the journalists that he never experienced a beating like tonight’s, praising Crawford’s strength.

“Never in my career, nobody has ever done that to me in sparring or anything,” said Brook.”I got caught with a shot I didn’t see.”

The Brit suffered his third career loss, with the first two coming from megastars, Gennadiy Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr. Those defeats, however, weren’t after knockouts like this, but following injuries, both times of Brook’s orbital bone.

The challenger also mentioned the fact that he didn’t have the proper support in the corner, as his trainer Dominic Ingle didn’t come to the USA. Instead, Carlos Formento coached him from the corner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCsnVeJq6AE

Crawford didn’t want to hear that as an excuse, stating that he won because of pure quality. Though he added that Brook is an excellent fighter, with a lot of heart and knowledge, but that simply a “better man won tonight.”

He turns attention towards the unification bouts, with two more guys holding the welterweight division titles. Errol Spence Jr. is the champion of the IBF and WBC versions, and the legendary Manny Pacquiao in the WBA title.

Crawford expressed his wish to meet Pacquiao, saying that they were close to striking a deal. Yet, the Coronavirus chaos disrupted all plans.

“I already said who I want. I want Manny Pacquiao. But being that the pandemic happened, and they weren’t going to allow fans in the Middle East, they had to put a hold to that. Everything was 95 percent done. We had a venue. The money was almost there.”

After tonight, the path towards their match is wide open, and some insiders are claiming that the negotiations are in progress. As for Spence Jr., he has a clash with Danny Garcia on December 5, and after that, he too will be in the combination for a mega-fight.

Brook’s future steps are unknown. He built a solid reputation in the light-middleweight division, earning a WBO Inter-Continental title with a TKO win over Mark DeLuca. We’ll see if he plans to continue fighting in the middleweight or come back down and try to avenge his defeats in the welterweight division.