Saturday night at the MGM Grand Bubble in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), the newly minted pound-for-pound southpaw from Omaha, Nebraska, successfully defended his title against Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs), the former IBF welterweight champion from Sheffield, England, scoring a TKO at 1:14 of round four.

 

Fighting out of the red corner in black trunks with gold trim, Crawford started slowly and lost the first two rounds. But he turned up the heat in round three, despite swelling over his right eye, before delivering the coup de grâce with a right hand that dropped his challenger. The Englishman beat the count, only to be met with a barrage of nine power punches, forcing the referee Tony Weeks to step in and wave off the fight.

 

Brook, fighting out of the blue corner in white trunks with red and blue trim, was the larger man, but despite leading the fight at the time of the stoppage, the old adage, “The bigger they are the harder they fall,” proved to be the case Saturday night. Brook performed well, before he walked into a punch he didn’t see coming, and has now lost three of his last six fights. To call him an elite fighter, as Crawford’s promoter and others who should know better have done, is an exaggeration. To say he was once an elite fighter is a more accurate description.

 

Crawford lets his fist do the talking and had little to say during his post-fight interview. But he did say, “I’m looking for a Pacquiao fight.”

 

Brook won’t be fighting Pacquiao any time soon if ever, but he was more forthcoming with his comments.

 

“This is boxing,” he said. “I obviously got caught with a shot I didn’t see.”

 

Having fought and lost to Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence Jr., Brook was asked to describe Crawford in the ring.

 

“He’s got good defense, fast hands, and good eyes. His timing is great,” Brook said. “I had some success, but he’s obviously a great talent.

 

“Nobody’s ever done that to me.”