By Vivem Soriano
Eagle News Service
US boxer Terrence Crawford stopped Australian Jeff Horn at 2:33 mark of the ninth round to score a huge and dominating TKO victory to capture the WBO welterweight crown.
The undefeated Crawford hammered Horn all throughout the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, then unleashed a flurry in the ninth to knock the Australian down.
Horn managed to beat the count but Crawford did not relent and went on the offensive once again, launching another onslaught of punches that forced referee Robert Byrd to finally stop the bout.
The hard-punching Crawford from Omaha, Nebraska was leading 80-72 in all the judges’ scorecards before the stoppage.
Crawford became just the sixth boxer to win titles in the lightweight, junior welterweight and welterweight divisions. This bout with Horn was his first foray in the 147-pound weight class, moving up from 140 where he won all the four major belts.
With the victory and the WBO title now in tow, Crawford improves to 33 wins, 24 via knockout, with no defeat while Horn has finally tasted defeat for the first time in his career, dropping to 18-1-1 with 12 knockouts.