His opponent, a brutish brawler with a nasty streak forged in the Soviet Union, stands a head taller and punches like a piston. But Omaha’s Terence “Bud” Crawford — the next great American boxing superstar, some say — carries a confidence born of versatility.
“I feel, all around, I can do whatever I want in there,” said Crawford, the 28-year-old junior welterweight champion who on Saturday will take on Ukraine’s Viktor Postol.
“If I have to box, I box. If I have to brawl, I brawl. If I have to trade, I trade,” Crawford said. “In those types of fights, I have the power to back you up. All in all, I feel like my IQ is what takes me to the next level.”
The next level, for Crawford or Postol, will come in their title unification fight in Las Vegas, a pay-per-view bout that will unite two titles in the rough-and-tumble 140 pound division. Postol owns the WBC belt he won off Argentina’s Lucas Matthysse in a heavy-handed knockout last year in Los Angeles.
Crawford carries the WBO title once held by Denver’s Mike Alvarado, a belt he has defended twice in a quick rise up the pound-for-pound rankings. Behind light heavyweight Andre Ward of Oakland, Crawford is the highest-rated American boxer in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings.
As Crawford carved out a hometown faithful in Omaha, where he sold out three marquee fights at the Century Link Center, he earned impressive victories over Yuriorkis Gamboa, Ray Beltran and Dierry Jean. In his last fight, a fifth-round TKO of Hank Lundy at Madison Square Garden in New York, Crawford solidified a claim as America’s next great prizefighter.
But for the past four years, he made his training camp home in Colorado Springs, running up the Barr Trail on Pikes Peak, training at the U.S. Olympic Center and a local YMCA and sparring at the Triple Threat Gym near the airport.
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Crawford said. “We have been having good success out there. You get away and we get to have a great camp. Plus the high altitude gives us a little edge.”
Crawford (28-0, 20 knockouts) wins with a variety of looks, switching to southpaw when the whim hits, acting defensive when he wants to draw in an opponent, then pouncing with aggression. In the 20 fights he stopped early, 14 came by TKO after he wore down the other guy.
Against Postol (28-0, 12 KOs), Crawford will face a taller, older boxer who broke onto the scene with an upset victory over Matthysse with a 10th round knockout in October. A stablemate of Manny Pacquiao, Postol trains under Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.
“Viktor has a height advantage and a little bit of a reach advantage,” Roach said. “He sets things up real well with his left hand. He is a complete fighter.”
The junior welterweight division hasn’t seen a unified champion since Danny Garcia held two titles in 2012. But Saturday’s bout, at the MGM Grand, will have more than belts on the line. Either Crawford will take another step toward the American mantle once held by Floyd Mayweather or Postol will solidify his stateside spot as a spoiler.
“This is a very big fight for me at a very critical time of my career,” Crawford said. “Because this fight can take me to that next level.”
