Terence Crawford had little problems retaining his WBO welterweight title via corner stoppage in the sixth round over former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan, but the problem that Crawford may not be able to climb so easily are still to come with the inter-promotional problems that threaten to choke boxing and its fans like the plague.
I thought Khan's speed could trouble Crawford and on the occasional time, it did, but those occasions appeared far too seldom for the Englishman and the real surprise came in the first round when Crawford, not known for getting out of the blocks quickly, dropped Khan with a left that was preceded by a right that appeared to do most of the damage.
Crawford nearly finished the fight there, but Khan avoided another knockdown with a well-placed grab and made it to the bell before being hurt and surviving again in the second.
Khan had a few good moments in the third and especially the fourth, but the fifth round saw Crawford landing hard punches that had Khan wincing and shaking his head and usually that means the end is near.
And it was, but in a less meaningful way than most had hoped as Crawford cracked Khan with what was either a low blow or a shot to the inner thigh (and depending on your angle, it could have been either) that saw Khan taking some of the allowed recovery period before trainer Virgil Hunter decided to intercede and surrender for his fighter from the corner.
Hunter's decision saved Khan from additional punishment but cost Crawford and fans a conclusive ending, not that is his job to worry about those things, but still an unsatisfying ending, if not an inevitable one.
Khan simply doesn't have the chin to compete with world-class welterweights and maybe not even those a notch below as his knockdown against trialhorse Samuel Vargas showed in his previous fight.
Yet, Khan would be unlikely to make 140 pounds again in a return to junior welterweight and may be caught in limbo, where his best option might be to make the fight that U.K. fans have always wanted against Kell Brook.
A Khan-Brook fight would put dollars into both men's coffers, even if the fight is too late to determine which was truly the better fighter in their prime and I'm hoping that Terence Crawford and Errol Spence don't look back in a few years and wonder about themselves as well.
Crawford-Spence is the best fight that boxing can make and Spence's claims that in-house options to unify his IBF title with are preferable (WBA champ Keith Thurman and WBC kingpin Shawn Porter) to a Crawford unification and I understand those are easy fights to make.
I would even be OK with Spence and Crawford hooking up in a year- IF you would make me this deal- Spence's next two fights are against those two PBC comrades while Crawford fights whoever he can match up with and those guys aren't going to be as interesting as Spence's competition certainly would be.
I'd be willing to wait under those conditions, no others.
On the Crawford-Khan undercard, Teofimo Lopez dominated Edis Tatli for four rounds and then stopped the former world title challenger with a right to the body that sent Tatli to one knee for the ten count.
Lopez claims he wants a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko in the next year before he leaves the lightweight division, but Lomachenko's claim is only if he holds a title will that fight take place.
A Mikey Garcia bout for the WBC title is unlikely, but should Garcia vacate the title, which is possible, Lopez could be in line for a fight that fills that vacancy, but an IBF title fight vs Richard Commey would be easier to make.
Commey would likely make more money for Lomachenko and a unification event so Top Rank will have to pay up for Commey to fight Lopez instead.
Shakur Stevenson cruised to a unanimous decision over Christopher Diaz.
I haven't watched this fight yet, but Stevenson is reported to have dominated Diaz in winning by eight, nine, and ten points on the scorecards.
I'm not sure Stevenson doesn't need more seasoning before fighting a champion at featherweight, a division that possesses four strong champions, but he seems to be on a fast track for a title fight within the next year or so.
Felix Verdejo's star may have dimmed since his days as a top prospect, but he at least added a little shine with a unanimous decision over Bryan Vasquez.
Verdejo never hurt Vasquez, but his jab was impressive and his combinations at least brought back memories of what Verdejo was thought to be before various problems caused inactivity and his first loss.
It will be interesting to see if Verdejo is challenged with another step up in competition or if he fights another boxer on the level of Vasquez, who is solid, but not quite top ten class.
I scored Verdejo a 97-93 winner on my card.
Meanwhile, Mr. Al Haymon, whose name was mentioned as much on social media during the Top Rank card due to the Crawford-Spence talk, and his PBC were outside on Fox and FS1 from Carson California.
The PBC main event saw former WBC welterweight champion, Danny Garcia return to the ring for the first time since a September loss to Shawn Porter for the vacant title and looked very strong in taking out durable Adrian Granados in the seventh round.
Granados won round one with his trademark aggression, but Garcia knocked down Granados twice in the second round with overhand rights that it seemed that everyone could see coming but Granados.
It was all Garcia from there as he never was threatened despite Granados' efforts otherwise.
Garcia sent Granados to the mat in the fifth and finished him off in the seventh as Garcia battered Granados along the ropes forcing referee Thomas Taylor to end the bout.
For Garcia, it was an impressive return, albeit against a fighter made to order for Garcia, who generally scores knockouts against fighters a step below the elite, but rarely stops an elite one.
Garcia would be well suited to fight again soon, but similar to many in the PBC, he simply doesn't fight often enough to stay in the minds of fans.
Garcia has been on both sides of close decisions in his career and has never been outmatched in any of his fights, but putting Garcia against any of the four champions have that been there done that feeling, which is logical considering that he has already fought two of them (Thurman and Porter) already.
Granados is simply physically overmatched at welterweight and if he can make the weight, would be competitive against anyone at 140 pounds.
Former heavyweight title challenger Andy Ruiz made his PBC debut a successful one in winning every round against Alexander Dimitrenko before Dimitrenko's corner stopped the bout at the end of the fifth round.
Don't give Ruiz too much credit though, as Dimitrenko seemed so dispassionate in his performance as any heavyweight in the top 100 could have dominated him on this night.
Dimitrenko's effort was a surprising one, considering his brave battle against Bryant Jennings in his previous bout, but if this is all that he will offer in the future, he should consider retirement.
As for Ruiz, who has just one loss to Joseph Parker, he has always shown ability, but a lack of activity along with a tendency to stay in shape has been a constant companion to him.
Should those things change for Ruiz, he could still be a viable contender and on the PBC side, I'd be very interested in a Ruiz-Adam Kownacki pairing.
Brandon Figueroa won a minor junior featherweight jewelry piece when Yonfrez Parejo was unable to continue after the eighth round.
The bout was filled with good exchanges in the first three rounds, but the bigger punching Figueroa began to grind Parejo down thereafter and avoided the counters that Parejo landed earlier in the fight.
I had Figueroa ahead after eight rounds 78-74 and I had the feeling that this fight might have ended before the final bell anyway, so the point may have been moot.
The undefeated Figueroa won his third fight in a row against veteran competition (Parejo, Moises Flores, and Oscar Escandon) and would be a very interesting challenger to the victor of next Friday's
WBA-IBF unification between Daniel Roman and T.J. Doheny.
Another minor belt was handed out on this card with an untelevised fight (Why that was is beyond me since it seemed like they were showing every fight down to ten years in the L.A. area) in the bantamweight division as former IBF flyweight champion John Riel Casimero knocked out Ricardo Espinoza in the twelfth round to win this title, which basically puts him into bantamweight contention.
As noted, I haven't seen this-Casimero knocked Espinoza down in the fifth and again in the final round before the fight was stopped.
Entering the final round the fight was on the line as each fighter was ahead by two points on one judge's card and the third judge had the fight even.
In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 15-14 to increase my lead to 94-85.
My points: three points from Brandon Figueroa (bonus point for calling the round)
two points from Terence Crawford, Shakur Stevenson, Teofimo Lopez, Felix Verdejo, and Andy Ruiz.
one point from John Riel Casimero and Danny Garcia
Ramon's points; three points from Teofimo Lopez
two points from Crawford, Figueroa, Verdejo, and Ruiz
one point from Stevenson, Casimero, and Garcia
