TERENCE CRAWFORD retained his WBC and WBO world super-lightweight titles in dominant fashion last night as he stopped John Molina inside eight rounds at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Molina badly missed the weight on Friday and so was unable to claim the titles had he sprung a huge upset, but there was little chance of that as unbeaten Crawford seized control of the fight immediately and never loosened his grip.
Originally boxing out of the orthodox stance, the gifted 29-year-old swiftly turned southpaw and methodically broke Molina down. Molina failed to land much of note, though a right hand snuck through in the third, whereas Crawford was typically clinical.
In the eighth, a body shot backed Molina to the ropes where Crawford piled in, forcing referee Mark Nelson’s intervention at 2-32 of the round.
“I think I should get a lot of credit for what I did this year, especially tonight,” Crawford said. “I showed I could be a finisher.”
