Crawford survives early scare, stops ‘Mean Machine’ in nine

Terence Crawford defended his WBO welterweight title against mandatory challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas with a ninth round TKO.

Terence Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs) proved again why he is one of the best fighters on the planet, stopping Lithuanian puncher Egidijus Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) by ninth round TKO.

It was a typical start from Crawford, as he wasn’t too aggressive early on and tried to figure out Kavaliauskas in the early rounds. ‘Mean Machine’ had some great moments in the early rounds though, connecting clean with a one-two in the second round that clearly hurt ‘Bud’.

Meanwhile in the third round Kavaliauskas hurt Crawford again with a right hand, and although ‘Bud’ took a knee following the punch the referee deemed it a slip and not a knockdown. Replays showed it should have been ruled a knockdown.

Crawford began to turn the tide in the fourth and fifth round, as he piled on the pressure on ‘Mean Machine’ and started to land some power punches. Kavaliauskas just survived at the end of the seventh round, as Crawford swarmed on him after knocking him down with a right hand that landed behind the ear.

Right at the start of the ninth round, ‘Bud’ landed a looping left hand followed by a right uppercut that dropped ‘Mean Machine’. The Lithuanian got back to his feet, but Crawford quickly closed the show with a right hook to remain unbeaten and defend his WBO welterweight title.

Official result: Terence Crawford def. Egidijus Kavaliauskas by ninth round TKO at :44 to remain the WBO welterweight champion