By Daniel Gonzalez

New York – Many thought that the matchup between WBO welterweight champion Terrence “Bud” Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) and the WBO mandatory challenger Egidjius “Mean Matchin” Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) would be an easy one for the Omaha, Nebraska native. This however, was not the case. Kavaliauskas, who represented Lithuania at the 2008 and 2012 in the Olympic Games, was very competitive in the fight and made Crawford earn every bit of his 9th round knockout in front on the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Crawford, the 3 division champion, who is a natural southpaw came out in the early rounds in his southpaw stance. The cagey and experienced Lithuanian in my opinion split the first 4 rounds with Crawford. In both rounds 3 and 4, Kavaliauskas was able to land hard straight right counters to the head of Crawford, which gave him the edge in those rounds. After being caught with one of those rights, Crawford tied up with the Mean Machine, and went to the canvas. Although it appeared to be knockdown, Referee Ricky Gonzalez ruled it a slip.

After the 4th round, Crawford buckled down and imposed his will on the challenger. In the 7th round, he switched to an orthodox stance and managed to take total control of the fight. He found a home for his right hand and sent Kavaliauskas to the canvas late in the round. In the 8th, the champion stepped on the gas and stalked Mean Machine. There was no question that Crawford wanted to end the show in dramatic fashion, which is exactly what he did in the 9th round. After putting the Lithuanian down twice in the round, he smelled blood and unloaded a flurry of punches that prompted Ricky Gonzalez to halt the bout at 0:44 of the 9th.

In the post fight interview, in response to ESPN’s Berardo Osuna question about the slip/knockdown in the 4th round, Crawford responded by saying, “He caught me with a good shot, but as you can see, I got up and stepped to him…I wasn’t hurt at all.”

When pressed as to who he would like to fight next, Crawford did not call anyone out or state any specific names. Instead he said, “I’ll fight anybody. I’ve been saying that for I don’t know how long, I’m not ducking anyone on the PBC side or Top Rank platform.” Part of the reason why Crawford has been unable to compete with the other top fighters in the welterweight division is because of the age-old feud between promoters Al Haymon and Bob Arum. “Showtime” Shawn Porter appears to be the person that boxing purists are predicting as Crawford’s next opponent. We all know that Porter is always ready and willing to get in the ring and mix it up with anyone who dares to fight him.
Unfortunately, the much anticipated welterweight clash between Errol Spence, Jr. and Bud will not happen in the near future. It is yet to be seen whether Spence will be able to get back in the ring. Spence has not yet made a public appearance after being injured in a serious car accident in October.
Although tested in New York in his second fight at the Mecca of boxing, Crawford rose to the occasion and once again put on an amazing show. There is no question that he deserves to be at the very top of the pound for pound list, as he continues his quest for greatness. I can not wait to see him back in the ring against a top fighter in early 2020. We should also all tip our hats to Egidjius Kavaliauskas for giving one of the best fighters on the planet bonafide competition. He is rugged competitor with a tremendous amateur pedigree, who will give any top welterweight real problems. That was a great fight!!

Daniel Gonzalez is a Senior Boxing Writer. Dan writes for many publications including Boxing Action Magazine, www.BoxingAction24.com and www.SideStepBoxing.com

Photo courtesy of Mikey Williams/ Top Rank