Terence Crawford vs. Egidius Kavaliauskas is official for December 14
Terence Crawford vs. Egidius Kavaliauskas is official.
Top Rank announced Monday that Crawford will defend his welterweight title against Kavaliauskas on December 14 at New York’s Madison Square Garden on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
The fight has been in the works for a couple of months. Crawford (35-0, 26 knockouts) talked about it in mid- September when Top Rank introduced its fall schedule at a Las Vegas news conference.
Kavaliauskas (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is from Lithuania but lives and trains in Oxnard, California. The 31-year-old was an accomplished amateur, performing well in international competitions and representing his native country in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
He is coming off a majority draw with Ray Robinson in March.
“This guy is no walk in the park,’’ Crawford said then. “He’s really strong. He’s unbeaten.’’
Egidijus Kavaliauskas will challenge welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford on December 14. Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports
Crawford, ranked first or second on virtually all of the pound-for-pound lists, stopped Amir Khan in six rounds in his last fight on April 20 at the Garden.
Top Rank also announced that the card will include Teofimo Lopez against lightweight champion Richard Commey and Irish featherweight Mick Conlan against Russian Vladimir Nikitin.
Colan-Nikitin is a rematch of a bout in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics. Conlan got a lot of worldwide notoriety for that one. After losing a controversial decision, he stood in the middle of the ring and flashed a couple of middle fingers at the judges for what he said was corrupt scoring. He alleged that Russian Vladimir Putin paid off the judges.
Conlan and Nikitin were supposed to have fought on August 3 in Belfast, Conlan’s hometown. But Nikitin withdrew, saying he had suffered a torn biceps in training.
The card will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes. It will immediately follow the network’s telecast of the 2019 Heisman Trophy presentation.