Crawford vs. Indongo results: Full card winners, analysis and reaction for Saturday night

Terence Crawford now owns the WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF, Ring Magazine and lineal world junior welterweight championships after prevailing over Julius Indongo in the main event of a Top Rank boxing card on ESPN.

Having all of those titles is significant, making him the undisputed champion of the division. With all the different titles and promotions, it’s rare to see a true unification bout, but that’s exactly what happened on Saturday. He is boxing’s first undisputed champion at any weight class in over a decade.

Crawford controlled the bout from the onset, scored a knockdown in the second round, and ended the fight with a massive hook to the body that put Indongo down for good.

In the co-feature, Oleksandr Gvozdyk managed to remain undefeated with a sixth-round TKO of Craig Baker, who went into the fight with a 17-1 record. Gvozdyk was a little slow out of the gate and that led many to believer Baker could have stolen some of those earlier rounds, but Gvozdyk started to turn up the pressure in the fifth and sixth rounds.

The whole fight, it looked like Gvozdyk was waiting for Baker to whiff on a big shot so he could drop him with a counter, and he did just that, landing a short right behind the glove on the side of the head that dropped Baker in the sixth round. After the referee allowed the match to resume, Gvozdyk swarmed and several punches later, the referee stopped the action.

The undercard opened with a bout between 2016 Olympics silver medalist Shakur Stevenson and David Michel Paz. Stevenson, who represented the United States in the Olympic Games, controlled the fight from the onset and took a unanimous decision victory on all three judges’ scorecards. He is now 3-0 as a professional.

Round 1: They both come out fast, ready to go. Indongo lunges in and eats a big counter left hand, but he’s fine. Indongo misses with a big left hook, and they tie up. Crawford is patient, waiting for the counter. Crawford comes forward with a massive left that Indongo ducks under, and wings a huge straight of his own that also misses. The round comes to an end.

Round 2: Indongo wings two big hooks that Crawford ducks under, and Indongo pushes him away. Crawford comes right back in with a lunging jab that connects. Crawford connects with a big body shot and Indongo is trying to back up, but eats a big shot to the head that puts him down. Indongo gets back to his feet and perhaps he did so too quickly, because he’s still wobbly. Crawford just misses with a big overhand, and Indongo has a shot lined up, but Crawford ties him up and the round comes to an end.

Round 3: Indongo looks like he’s recovered. Indongo tries a left uppercut that just misses. Crawford peppers him with a couple jabs. Crawford ducks under a big hook and delivers a massive, massive hook to the body that crumples Indongo! It’s a knockout win for Crawford!

Round 1: Gvozdyk is coming forward with the left jab pretty consistently, but Baker is doing a good job of keeping himself out of the range. Baker goes for a body shot and eats a short hook for his troubles. Gvozdyk sneaks a couple left jabs through. Baker is coming forward and he wants to land a big left. With 10 seconds to go, Gvozdyk unloads and throws a five-punch combo where a couple sneak through. The round comes to an end.

Round 2: Baker connects with a nice left straight. Gvozdyk is going a little slow here, and Baker, while not spectacular, is scoring some points. Gvozdyk does keep landing with that pawing left jab, but it isn’t doing any damage. Gvozdyk, once again, swarms Baker in the closing seconds of the round, but there wasn’t much action and hasn’t been through two rounds.

Round 3: Baker swings a big right hook right out of the gate, but Gvozdyk is out of the way. Gvozdyk pushes forward, pawing the jab through. He connects with a nice left hook to the body, and just misses with a big uppercut. The round comes to an end.

Round 4: Baker’s defense isn’t letting anything other than the flicking jabs through, and he’s connecting with some straight shots of his own. He’s walking Gvozdyk down, though the big shot has yet to land for either boxer. Not a whole lot happens in this round, and it comes to an end. There’s an argument to be made for Baker winning this fight, at least right now.

Round 5: Gvozdyk is a lot more active out of the gate, throwing multiple combos. He wants to set up something big over the top with his jab, but Baker’s defense is solid. Gvozdyk works a winging combo, two hooks to the body and a jab over the top. He’s more active, and this is important. Baker isn’t countering much.

Round 6: Gvozdyk comes out with the same short, quick combos. He wants Baker to throw something big so he can counter it. But Baker is just eating the jabs and occasionally winging a hook or straight of his own. Gvozdyk splits Baker’s guard and a short, powerful right hand sends Baker to the mat. It’s a knockdown and when they resume, Gvozdyk is firing big, big shots. Baker gets up against the ropes, and the referee eventually steps in and tops the barrage. There was no recovering from that for Baker.

Round 1: Paz throws a quick one-two that Stevenson avoids. Stevenson lands a good body shot after Paz msises with a combo over the top. Stevenson peppers Paz’s guard with big straight rights and left hooks. He is keeping his head just out of Paz’s range, even on the long jabs. It’s a good, busy round for Stevenson, but so far no serious damage has been inflicted.

Round 2: Stevenson is a lot busier to start the round, continually throwing hard lefts into Paz’s guard. Paz rushes forward, misses two shots over the top and comes close to eating a lethal left hand, but he aborted just in time. Big pair of body shots from Stevenson. Paz is telegraphing his combos and Stevenson is picking him apart. Stevenson’s right hand is constantly flicking forward in a jab. The round, another big one for Stevenson, comes to an end.

Round 3: Stevenson is landing heavy with big, powerful right straights to the head and right hooks to the body. Paz is slowing down, and can’t seem to find Stevenson’s head in any exchange. Paz’s mouthpiece comes loose as he eats a big shot from Stevenson on the back-end of a three-punch combo that included another big body shot. He’s really focusing on the body in the round. Paz slips. The round comes to an end.

Round 4: Stevenson is putting a lot of power into his early shots. He wants to stop Paz. Paz, to his credit, isn’t giving Stevenson any free shots, but he’s shown little in the way of offense this fight. Stevenson connects with two short hooks to the head and sneaks one into the body as he backs up. He just misses with a big left hook, then lands flush with a right straight. Stevenson connects with a big left hand as Paz tries to duck out of the way, and it does some serious damage. Another Stevenson round comes to an end.

Round 5: A big counter left from Stevenson lands flush on the first exchange of the bout. Good bodywork from Stevenson. Paz keeps his guard up, but he still isn’t landing anything. Stevenson has absorbed next to no damage in this bout. It’s more of the same until the final 30 seconds, when Stevenson scores a knockdown on Paz. They resume when Paz gets back up, and Paz is coming forward. Stevenson slips a huge punch and counters flush, and the round ends.

Round 6: Paz lands a right hook that looked dangerous, but Stevenson is fine. Stevenson throws a big four-punch combo and Paz ties up to get out of it. They separate. Stevenson connects with a big straight to the body and gets Paz up against the ropes. Paz keeps walking forward, and nearly lands a big overhand, but Stevenson gets out of the way. The fight comes to an end, and it’s unquestionably a Stevenson decision.

ESPN main card results

Junior welterweight: Terence Crawford def. Julius Indongo via KO in Round 3
Light heavyweight: Oleksandr Gvozdyk def. Craig Baker via TKO in Round 6
Featherweight: Shakur Stevenson def. David Michel Paz via unanimous decision (60-53, 60-53, 60-53)

Livestreamed undercard results

Welterweight: Mike Reed def. Robert Frankel via unanimous decision
Welterweight: Mike Alvarado def. Sidney Siqueira via KO in Round 4
Heavyweight: Dillian Whyte def. Malcolm Tann via TKO in Round 3
Heavyweight: Bryant Jennings def. Daniel Martz via TKO in Round 2
Super featherweight: Kevin Ceja Ventura def. Baltazar Ramierz via KO in Round 3
Light heavyweight: Steven Nelson def. Cesar Ruiz via unanimous decision