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Horn vs Crawford: History set to repeat in Vegas

Jeff Horn of Australia in action. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
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8th June, 2018
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WBO Welterweight Champion Jeff Horn is defending his title against Terence Crawford this Sunday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Now’s the time to down to the business end of the event. The press conference is done, now all that remains is the weigh-in – and the fight.

To predict what I think is going to happen in this fight, I would invite you to cast your minds back to 2001, in particular November 2001. In the same arena then WBC/WBA Super-lightweight champion and follow Aussie boxer Kostya Tszyu put up his two titles against American Zab Judah with Judah putting up his IBF and ring title in the first unification bout for the super-lightweight division in 35 years.

Tszyu was the huge underdog at 32 and was starting to get past his best with Jadah only 24 and coming into his prime. It was said by many experts and pretty much the entire American boxing community that Jadah would use his speed and footwork to easily outclass Tszyu and take his titles.

But despite the eight-year age gap, Tszyu delivered what was the best knockout of the year. In less than two rounds he completely destroyed Zadah, knocking him completely senseless to score the upset of the year.

The fight with Horn and Crawford is very similar. The American is the heavy favourite due to his supreme boxing speed, with the Aussie having the power and weight advantage. Again its speed versus power in this fight and with Kostya versus Jadah it only takes one punch to win a fight.

Personally I think that the fight won’t enter the fifth round with Horn to give the surprise KO of the year. Horn has proven that he can take a punch and recover while Crawford has a soft chin and a habit of leading with it. Horn has huge KO power and Crawford will run into one and not be able to recover.

Horn is going to be too big and strong for Crawford who is coming up from the super-lightweight (140 lbs) division to the 147 lbs welterweight division. Horn will have a good 10-15 lbs weight advantage by fight time and the power punches will be too much for the American to handle.

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Expect history to be made – and to repeat itself – come Sunday.

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