LAS VEGAS (March 29, 2018) — Pound-for-pound superstar TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD is ready to conquer the welterweight division. Crawford, the former lightweight champion and undisputed junior welterweight kingpin, will challenge JEFF “The Hornet” HORN for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title on Saturday, June 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“It’s exciting to see Bud Crawford move up to the welterweight division. In Jeff Horn, he fights a big, rough, tough welterweight who won the title from one of the greats, Manny Pacquiao,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, founder, and CEO of Top Rank.
“I cannot wait to get back in the ring on June 9 and win the WBO welterweight championship,” Crawford said. “Jeff Horn and his team better be ready because they are going to see a bigger, stronger, and more powerful Terence Crawford. I am going home with that belt.”
Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), from Omaha, Nebraska, is coming off a history-making performance in becoming the undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world. “Bud” defeated the previously unbeaten Julius Indongo in impressive fashion when he blasted the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) world champion with a sensational third-round liver shot knockout. That fight took place lastAugust 19 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. With the win over Indongo, Crawford became the first 140-pounder to unify all four major world titles, and the third male boxer in history to accomplish that feat—joining Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor.
Crawford unified the WBO and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles on July 23, 2016, with a thoroughly dominating unanimous decision over the previously undefeated Viktor Postol. He knocked down Postol twice in the fifth round and fought out of the southpaw stance for nearly the entire fight. Before unifying all four major world title belts against Indongo, Crawford notched TKO victories over 2008 Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz and the big-punching John Molina, Jr.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Duco Events, tickets on-sale and broadcast information for the Crawford vs. Horn world title bout will be announced shortly.