Crawford big favorite to take out Benavidez

After a spectacular victory in his last bout, undefeated pound for pound number one Terence Crawford returns to the ring this Saturday against Jose Benavidez.

This is a bout that nobody really asked for besides Benavidez. For Top Rank, the promoter of both boxers, Benavidez’s barking worked out conveniently, as it gave a reason to make an in-house matchup.

Benavidez was once thought of as a can’t miss prospect.

After a decorated amateur career, he turned professional at the age of 17 and headed to Hollywood to train with Freddie Roach. After twenty-one victories, he faced off against veteran Mauricio Herrera, and lost in the eyes of everyone except three blind mice otherwise known as boxing judges. After this, he won two more bouts against lesser competition before being shot in the leg in his hometown of Phoenix.

His boxing career was thought of as finished. Somehow, he managed not only to survive but miraculously make a return to boxing this year. He’s had two victories against no hopers with gaudy records, and decided this was justification to call out the biggest, baddest wolf in boxing.

Though Terence Crawford seems like a serene enough fellow, he has a mean streak that he lets out in the ring. Several opponents who chose to talk found this out the hard way, Hank Lundy and Dierry Jean come to mind.

Like most of Crawford’s opponents, Benavidez will probably regret this soon after the bell rings. This will be a gargantuan step up in class for Benavidez, even if he hadn’t been shot. Crawford is great at everything, his best quality being his ability to adjust during the bout.

Crawford laughed when Benavidez said he was ducking him; this no doubt motivates him to give Benavidez the whipping of his life.

The odds of Benavidez winning are slim, but at least he will get the opportunity to show if he is the can’t miss talent that he was once thought to become.

The irony is Crawford came up professionally the hard way, signing with a no-name promoter, meandering across the Midwest fighting in saloons until he was picked up by Top Rank years later. Even then, he was thought of as an underdog against hard hitting Breidis Prescott, a fight he took on two weeks notice. That night, Crawford didn’t just win, but made it look easy.

For the most part, he’s done it the same way since, and barring a stunning upset, nothing should change this weekend.

This is really just a rest stop on the road that should hopefully lead to a showdown against fellow welterweight Errol Spence.