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WBO Junior Welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford finally has an opponent. Top Rank President Bob Arum announced on Thursday that Crawford will defend his 140-pound title against “Hammerin” Hank Lundy on February 27th in an HBO-televised doubleheader to be held at The Theater in Madison Square Garden, New York.
The Fifth Man on The List
Arum confirmed that Lundy was only the fifth man on the shortlist of opponents for Crawford after Bud wasn’t chosen by Manny Pacquiao as his final opponent on April 9th. Arum’s initial list included Viktor Postol, Lucas Matthysse, Ruslan Provodnikov and Mauricio Herrera. But for some reason, they all said they would not be ready to fight on February 27th. Lundy was the only one who said he would be ready.
Lundy has lost two of his last three fights but both losses were in competitive bouts against Thomas Dulorme and Mauricio Herrera. Against Dulorme, he lost by a controversial split decision while the fifth round technical decision loss to Herrera is debatable. Lundy has an overall record of 26-5-1 with 13 KOs. He is currently the WBC Continental Americas Lightweight champion and a former NABF and NABO Lightweight title holder. He is credited as the fighter closest to beating current WBC 140-pound champion Viktor Postol in March of 2013. Postol won the fight by unanimous decision but the scores were very close at 116-112, 116-112 and 116-113.
Most Feared Fighter?
Like Gennady Golovkin, Terence Crawford is one of the most “avoided” fighters in the sport. Shortly after his 10th round KO of Dierry Jean last October, Crawford’s name came up in the shortlist of Manny Pacquiao’s final ring opponent. But while Arum made it clear that he wanted either Crawford or Timothy Bradley, Pacquiao chose the latter presumably because Pacman has already seen Bradley twice.
After the Pacquiao fallout, Crawford tried to set up a blockbuster fight with fellow 140-pound champion Viktor Postol but the latter turned it down due to availability on the scheduled date. After three more refusals, Crawford finally found a brave opponent in Lundy. Bud is undefeated in 27 bouts and has 18 KOs. He has beaten the likes of Ricky Burns, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Raymundo Beltran, Thomas Dulorme and Dierry Jean among others. Crawford was named BWAA Boxer of the Year for 2015 after his star-making victory over Gamboa. He is considered one of the top prospects in the sport today.
