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Dougie’s Monday mailbag (Terence Crawford-Jeff Horn, ‘Bud love,’ ‘Hornet hate’)

Jeff Horn received a lot of hate from fans and media, but Terence Crawford gave the deposed WBO 147-pound beltholder his due respect after their one-sided fight. Photo by German Villasenor
Fighters Network
11
Jun

WEEKEND ACTION

Hey Dougie,

Hope all is well—appreciate your transparency during the weird situations that have unfolded over the last few months. Very solid weekend of boxing. Feels like the times are changing, as I was bouncing between YouTube, an app on my phone, and Showtime to catch all the action.

The Showtime fights were pretty entertaining, despite a bit of a restless crowd. Do you see the winners jumping straight into the Hurd/Russell Jr unification fights by the end of the year? Hope Showtime keeps the momentum rolling, that should be a no-brainer.



Damn Terence Crawford is a bad dude. Showed some real physicality at the new weight and basically pushed Jeff Horn around. Errol Spence definitely seems to be the most physically imposing guy at Welter, but if I’m forced to pick, I have to slightly favor Crawford with his more complete toolbox. How do you see that dream fight playing out if it happens say a year from now? (Wishful thinking)

Lastly, mythical matchups:

Tarver vs Kovalev

Haye vs Gassiev

Marquez vs Fenech

Thanks. – DJ from Seattle

I’ll go with Tarver, Haye and Marquez by decision in very hard, close fights, but they would have box the most disciplined fights to the best of their considerable abilities.

Photo by German Villasenor

Crawford is indeed a “baaaaaad man” as a young Muhammad Ali would put. We knew he’d figure out Horn’s awkward style and deal with the Aussie’s rugged determination, but he outclassed and overwhelmed the defending WBO beltholder on every level (technically, tactically and physically). It was painfully one-sided. Horn was limited but he hung tough long enough for Bud to prove that he’s every bit as strong and agile at welterweight as he was at lightweight and junior welterweight. I’d rate Keith Thurman and Spence ahead of Crawford based on their 147-pound resumes, but I’d probably pick Bud to beat them both (in competitive fights, of course). Why? I think he’s a more compete (and certainly more active) fighter than Thurman; and I believe that he’s a more versatile boxer than Spence. But I think THE RING’s Nos. 1 and 2-rated welterweights would pose stern challenges to the Omaha native. Thurman due to his speed and lateral movement, Spence due to his size, power and technique. The winner of the proposed Porter-Garcia fight would also make a worthy challenger for Crawford.

Photo by Stephanie Trapp-TrappPhotos / SHOWTIME

The Showtime fights were entertaining (even though Charlo-Trout wasn’t heated enough for those blood-thirsty Los Angeles fans). Santa Cruz-Mares delivered. Both featherweights gave 100%; can’t ask for much more. Having said that, I don’t want to see a third fight. I want Santa Cruz vs. Russell next, and I want to see Mares take on anyone in the top five or six (Carl Frampton, Oscar Valdez, Josh Warrington).

Will we see Santa Cruz-Russell and Charlo-Hurd next? I think so. That’s the plan that Showtime has for this year (and isn’t it nice that a subscription cable network that has historically included boxing in its sports programming actually HAS a plan for 2018?).

Very solid weekend of boxing. Yeah, I think “solid” is the best way to describe it. There was a fair amount of high-profile action, but no surprises. Tyson Fury made his long-awaited comeback with a walk-over in a paid sparring session, as expected. Santa Cruz topped Mares again in the fight of the weekend, as expected. Crawford put on the performance of the weekend against the overmatched Horn, as expected. Mo Hooker’s upset of Terry Flanagan in the unbeaten former lightweight beltholder’s hometown was probably the only thing that didn’t follow the script over the busy weekend.

Feels like the times are changing, as I was bouncing between YouTube, an app on my phone, and Showtime to catch all the action. I hear ya. I peeped some of the Manchester show via Showtime’s YouTube channel on my iPhone while having lunch with my wife at a restaurant (I was discrete about it, though, I had it on mute). And I watched Crawford-Horn via the ESPN+ App on my phone while watching the Showtime broadcast on my TV. (And I managed to copy edit and post three deadline stories to RingTV.com, while doing some Tweeting! You gotta be able to multi-task these days.)

 

TERENCE CRAWFORD

Dougie,

Doubt this will make it to the mailbag with you busy with the regulars but hey worth a go.

Crawford 3rd weight division tearing up a bigger champ. Is this guy trying to do an old skool p4p #1 gig?

I’m having difficulty determining between him and Lomo as p4p#1 – in your opinion how’d you see it?

Mythicals:

Canelo vs BHOP?

Canelo vs Pavlik?

Canelo vs RJJ?

Canelo vs Hagler?

Canelo vs Tito?

Peace. – Adz

I’ll go with Hopkins and Pavlik by late stoppage or UD, Jones Jr. by mid-rounds KO, Hagler by late stoppage, and Trinidad by UD. (No disrespect to the Red Diva. Hey, at least he’s still got THE RING middleweight title.)

Crawford 3rd weight division tearing up a bigger champ. Is this guy trying to do an old skool p4p #1 gig? Yes, that’s exactly what he’s trying to do, and he’s doing a pretty good job of it.

I’m having difficulty determining between him and Lomo as p4p#1 – in your opinion how’d you see it? I still got GGG in the top spot of the mythical rankings, but I don’t think you can go wrong with either Bud or Loma as the Pound-for-Pound King.

 

FORGIVE ME FOR BEING PAROCHIAL

Hi Doug,

I hope all is well with you and your family and thank you for providing us with great content week in, week out and hopefully for many more years to come.

It is 8:30 pm June 10th in Australia, Sunday night as I write this e-mail. It also happens to be my Mum’s birthday. Naturally my old man and I could not attend the Sunday family brunch as our bloke Jeff Horn attempted to defend his word title against Terence Crawford around midday our time. She understood and happily watched the fight with us. I was blown away by the negativity directed at Horn in the lead up to this fight. I expected it from the social media scumbags that I’m sure you have to deal with every day, but I was surprised by respected US media personalities that were so openly against Horn. The most obvious example of course being Teddy Atlas.

I’m not writing to ridicule Teddy Atlas, I don’t even know who he is, or what he has or has not contributed to our sport, but I just wanted to point a few things out.

  1. Jeff Horn was absolutely outclassed in every round of the fight
  2. Jeff Horn flew to the opposite side of the world for this fight
  3. Jeff Horn gambled on himself winning this fight and he came up short
  4. Jeff Horn fought a guaranteed hall of famer (granted, past his prime Pacquiao) and a top 3 P4P fighter in Crawford in 12 months
  5. Jeff Horn never stopped trying to win

Photo by German Villasenor

For those of us that have been significantly outmatched in the ring before, at any level, we know how Jeff was feeling in that fight. Second guessing himself, hesitating and expecting counters that may or may not come. That is the greatness of Terence Crawford.

The ring can be a desperately lonely place, as it was for Jeff Horn on Saturday night.

I was hoping Rushton would keep Jeff on the stool at the end of the 8th, he did not. I agree with former IBF Junior Lightweight world champion Barry Michael (who did Aus commentary), that Byrd stopping it in the 9th was the right call. I know most people overseas hate Jeff Horn but he is an absolute warrior and would have absorbed more unnecessary punishment. For the record, I e-mailed the NAC to thank Robert Byrd.

As for the fight itself, Crawford was the favourite for a reason. I was shocked at how strong he was at 66Kg’s. In Aus we thought Horn may have an advantage on the inside but Crawford quickly out muscled Horn and nullified all his in-fighting. I was also massively impressed with Crawford’s chin. Horn barely landed, but maybe 3 or 4 shots got through in the first 3 rounds and Bud ate them like they were nothing. I can’t wait for Bud to get matched up with the rest of the division, anyway you go it’s a fun fight!

I was also at Jason and Andrew Moloney’s last fight at the Malvern Town Hall in Melbourne and I was so impressed. Where do you see these guys going in the future? Jason to WBSS?

I hope this wasn’t too much of a chore Doug, had to get that off my chest. All the best to you and yours and that 2018 continues to be a great year for our sport.

Thanks again. – Zack, Melbourne (AUS)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Zack, and for reminding us that it takes a lot of character step into the prize ring (let alone travel around the planet to face a bona-fide world beater) and that decided underdogs are the bravest souls in the cruelest sport.

Apart from hardcore Manny Pacquiao fans, I don’t understand anyone hating Horn. I was taken back a bit by the gross amount of vitriol spewed at Horn before, during and immediately after the Crawford fight by fans (and some media) on Twitter. Even compliments for Crawford prompted d__k-head fans to spit Horn hate. They were so down on Horn they couldn’t even give Bud credit for the victory. I don’t know what to say about that other than I think there are some seriously sick f__ks that follow boxing for obvious reasons (the sport is basically a vehicle for them to dump on other human beings).

Atlas usually has some sympathy for the underdog in boxing, but for this fight he was rather cold toward the longshot, as evidenced by his “Volkswagen (with a bad driver)-vs.-a-Ferrari” analogy. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s an American thing. Just like you’re a little sensitive (or “parochial” as you put it) when it comes to Horn, maybe Atlas, a fiercely patriotic American (and old-school former trainer who has witnessed foreign fighters gradually take over the U.S./world boxing scene), is so proud of Crawford that he’s protective of the only current American boxer with a real shot of being universally viewed as the best boxer on the planet, so much so that he gets a little nasty when someone from another country makes self-confident statements prior to fighting Bud.

Or maybe he just thinks Jeff sucks. Whatever. At the end of the day, as you noted, Horn faced a living legend and pulled off the upset and then stepped into the ring with a feared, elite-level boxer. Yeah, he was absolutely dominated by Crawford, but Bud might do that every welterweight he faces. Time will tell. In the meantime, nobody can say that Horn is afraid to challenge himself. He might be Volkswagen among Ferraris in this deep 147-pound division, but there are more than a few Ferraris that are afraid to race against their own kind.

I was hoping Rushton would keep Jeff on the stool at the end of the 8th, he did not. I was also hoping the plug would be pulled after that punishing Round 8. Jeff is too tough for his own health, and it’s never good when a fighter’s corner is braver than he is.

I agree with former IBF Junior Lightweight world champion Barry Michael (who did Aus commentary), that Byrd stopping it in the 9th was the right call. I was also relieved to see the referee jump in and halt the slaughter. Once a fight is no longer competitive, and one man is being physically punished, boxing is no longer a sport; it’s just cruelty.

I know most people overseas hate Jeff Horn but he is an absolute warrior and would have absorbed more unnecessary punishment. No doubt about that. I so glad that he didn’t have to.

For the record, I e-mailed the NAC to thank Robert Byrd. I’m glad you did that. Fans and media are quick to rip officials when they mess up, so we should be equally quick to praise them when they do the right thing.

I can’t wait for Bud to get matched up with the rest of the division, anyway you go it’s a fun fight! I agree, but like I said, not all the “Ferraris” in the welterweight division are eager to race against each other. We know Bud is willing to fight anyone. Are the other top 147 pounders willing to face him?

I was also at Jason and Andrew Moloney’s last fight at the Malvern Town Hall in Melbourne and I was so impressed. Where do you see these guys going in the future? I think both brothers – who recently cracked THE RING’s bantamweight and junior bantamweight rankings – are headed toward title shots in 2019 if they continue to develop at their current rate.

Jason to WBSS? I guess that’s a possibility, and I’m sure he would be a welcome addition to the 118-pound tournament, but I’m not sure the 27-year-old Aussie is ready for the likes of Zolani Tete, Naoya Inoue, Ryan Burnett and Emanuel Rodriguez.

 

ESPN+ TO YOUR TV

I am sure by now you figured out how to stream the Crawford fight to your TV. I used to stream (10 years ago) YouTube from a lap top to my television using a heavy cord, I want to say it’s called an HD1 cord. I have one packed away which I’ll spend Saturday looking for. Maybe it’s the same method. Just guessing. – Joseph

You gave me way too much credit, Joseph. I watched Crawford-Horn on my iPhone. We’ve got an Amazon Fire TV Stick, but I was only able to find the regular ESPN App on the Stick’s menu, not ESPN+. We’ve had Fire TV for a few months, but this was the first time I bothered with it, so I’m sure I did something wrong, but I’ll keep messing with it and getting tips from nice, technologically adept boxing fans via Twitter (like Brandon Stubbs), and eventually I’ll figure it out (hopefully before the next major boxing event is streamed on the “plus”).

 

 

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @dougiefischer

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