Terence Crawford lost his cool before fighting José Benavidez Jr. in October 2018.
The usually mild-mannered ‘Bud’ had been beefing with David Benavidez‘s brother for more than a year before they finally traded blows at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Things reached a boiling point when the two rivals came together for a final face-off after weighing in.
A policeman stood between Terence Crawford and the 27-0 contender, but that didn’t stop all hell from breaking loose just 24 hours before their WBO welterweight title clash.
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Revisiting Terence Crawford vs. José Benavidez Jr.
José Benavidez Jr. initiated the viral moment by pushing his opponent during their final staredown.
Terence Crawford responded by opening up his body and launching a hook at Benavidez’s chin.
The challenger easily moved out of the way before police, security, and members of the respective teams jumped in the middle to stop things from getting out of hand.
“I’ve been cool. I’ve been keeping it professional, and he pushed me,” Crawford said immediately after the ugly incident.
The following day, the champion made Benavidez pay for his disrespect by scoring a destructive KO.
With just one minute left in the 12th round, Crawford landed a monstrous uppercut to floor Benavidez.
A flurry of follow-up punches sent Benavidez into the ropes and forced the referee to wave off their fight.
Crawford’s hometown crowd went wild as he passionately celebrated getting revenge on his rival.
Terence Crawford’s next fight
Seven years later, José Benavidez Jr. has won just one of the five fights he’s had since his first loss.
In contrast, Terence Crawford has improved to 42-0 with eight victories against elite opposition.
Canelo Alvarez was his latest victim when they clashed for all the super middleweight belts last weekend.
After winning the biggest fight of his career by unanimous decision, Crawford has been linked to an exciting fight with David Benavidez (30-0), whose last fight saw him win a world title at light heavyweight.
Turki Alalshikh named Benavidez as a potential opponent for Crawford after he beat Canelo.
It’s currently unclear if Crawford would take that fight after previously distancing himself from ‘The Mexican Monster’ due to the vast size difference between them.
“My thing is, Benavidez is a big dude,” Crawford said in March. “Not to say I won’t fight him. I fought his brother. His brother was big when I fought him. The only reason why I entertain Canelo is because he’s not a big dude. He might be thick, but he’s not a big dude.
“Benavidez is like six foot something, then he’s gonna come in 190, 200 maybe, you know what I mean? You never know, that’s a big dude… I might as well go to heavyweight if I fight Benavidez.”
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