Terence Crawford started slow Saturday night in his WBO welterweight title fight against heavy underdog Egidijus Kavaliauskas at Madison Square (NYSE:SQ) Garden in New York, but he came on strong and scored a ninth-round knockout to keep his 147-pound title.
Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) knocked Kavaliauskas down twice in the ninth. Referee Ricky Gonzalez ended the fight at 44 seconds after Crawford landed a right hook to the head, sending Kavaliauskas to one knee on the heels of a right uppercut and straight right that did the same only seconds earlier.
Crawford led the scorecards 79-72, 79-72 and 78-73 at the time the fight was stopped.
Crawford, of Omaha, Nebraska, successfully defended his title for the third time, although he still awaits a match with another top welterweight as he fights for Top Rank and on ESPN. The others all fight under Premier Boxing Champions and on other networks.
But Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) was his mandatory challenger, and at times fought like a worthy one, consistently landing a hard right and even a few combinations in the early rounds.
With swelling on his right eye, Crawford finally got rolling in the seventh, landing a clean right to Lithuanian's ear and sending him to a knee. Kavaliauskas recovered and held off a late-round barrage to make it back to his corner.
Crawford dished out more punishment in the eighth before closing out the fight in the next round.
--Field Level Media