This Saturday night August 19th 2017, for the first time since Bernard Hopkins did it at Middleweight, we will crown an undisputed champion in the Junior Middleweight division. All the belts will be on the line when Terence Crawford (31-0, 22 KO’s) defends his WBC/WBO/TheRing/Lineal Junior Welterweight titles agains Julius Indongo (22-0, 11 KO’s) who will defend his WBA/IBF Junior Welterweight titles. The winner will be the first undisputed champion since 2004 when Bernard Hopkins defeated Oscar De La Hoya for the last remaining title at Middleweight. The fight will take place at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln Nebraska and will be live on ESPN at 9pm ET. In the co-feature, Oleksandr Gvozdyk (13-0, 11 KO’s) will take on Craig Baker (17-1, 13 KO’s) in a 10 round Light Heavyweight bout. Also on the card, Nicholas Walters (26-1-1, 21 KO’s) will make his ring return as he takes on Arturo Santos Reyes (19-8, 5 KO’s) in a 10 round Super Featherweight bout. Here is the breakdown and predictions:
TERENCE CRAWFORD
-Record: 31 – 0 – 0, 22 KO’s
-Weight Class: Junior Welterweight
-Height: 5′ 8″
-Reach: 70″
-Notable Fights
- Ricky Burns — Win, Unanimous Decision (12), 3/1/14. (Won WBO Lightweight title)
- Tomas Dulorme — Win, TKO 6th round (12), 4/18/15. (Won vacant WBO Junior Welterweight title)
- Viktor Postol — Win, Unanimous Decision (12), 6/23/16. (Won WBC/TheRing/Lineal Junior Welterweight titles)
JULIUS INDONGO
-Record: 31 – 0 – 0, 22 KO’s
-Weight Class: Junior Welterweight
-Height: 5′ 10″
-Reach: 71″
-Notable Fights
- Kaizer Mabuza — Win, Unanimous Decision (12), 12/6/14.
- Eduard Troyanovsky — Win, KO 1st round (12), 12/3/16. (Won IBF/IBO Junior Welterweight titles)
- Ricky Burns — Win, Unanimous Decision (12), 4/15/17. (Won WBAunified Junior Welterweight title)
Predictions:
Nicholas Walters — def — Arturo Santos Reyes — via — TKO 4th round
Oleksandr Gvozdyk — def — Craig Baker — via — TKO 9th round
Terence Crawford — def — Julius Indongo — via — TKO 8th round
-David Jukic, INSIDE RINGSIDE