TERENCE CRAWFORD became the undisputed super-lightweight champion of the world overnight by blasting away Julius Indongo inside three rounds.
The unbeaten Omaha, Nebraska native added the WBA and IBF belts to his WBC and WBO ones to become men’s boxing’s first four-belt holder since 2005.
Crawford’s emphatic win at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska only further enhances his standing as one of the best fighters on the world.
The bout started tentatively in a quiet first round that ‘Bud’ appeared to edge with a few crisp shots as he found his range against the taller and rangier Indongo.
The Namibian was then dropped in the second when a vicious overhand left followed a series of right hooks from Crawford. Indongo managed to see out the round, but he was being outclassed by Crawford, who was winning with unnerving ease.
The end came in the third when Crawford uncorked a hellacious body shot, which once again floored Indongo, but this time he was unable to beat referee Jack Reiss’ count.
“Belts matter and I am the only world champion at 140lbs – it is a big deal to me,” Crawford said afterward.
“We have been practising body shots all camp and everything we worked on in camp came out today.
“Now I want to rest up and enjoy this moment. My managers and coaches will see what is next for me.”
On the undercard, unbeaten light-heavyweight contender Oleksandr Gvozdyk stopped Craig Baker in six rounds. The Ukrainian got off to a fairly slow start and not much happened in the first five rounds, but he then dropped and stopped Baker in the sixth to continue his path to a world title shot.
British heavyweight Dillian Whyte had a successful American debut further down the bill when he stopped Malcolm Tann in the third stanza. Dropped four times in total, it was a series of body shots that eventually finished Tann off.
