As expected, Terence Crawford and Raymundo Beltran both were victorious on HBO tonight. A pound for pound elite and unified titlist, Crawford was heavily favored against former Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz and delivered with an noncompetitive beatdown that was mercifully stopped after eleven. Mexico’s Ray Beltran scored a knock out of the year candidate on the undercard.
Felix Diaz (19-2, 9 KOs), who won a gold medal for his native Dominican Republic in the 2008 Olympics, gave a spirited effort in the first half of the fight. He managed to land maybe a little more on Bud Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs) than we are used to, but it wasn’t really anything that could add up to be something significant.
Over the second half of the fight, Crawford battered Diaz worse and worse as the rounds went on. Fighting exclusively as a southpaw, the Omaha fighter was able to do whatever he wanted in the contest. He came forward when he wanted, countered off the back foot when he wanted, and taunted his overmatched opponent whenever he wanted to.
After a particularly one sided ninth round, the former gold medalist’s trainer Joel Diaz told him that he had to dominate the tenth to be allowed to see the eleventh. Felix didn’t, of course, and his trainer kept his word. There isn’t a lot more to say about this bout. Felix Diaz is a pretty good fighter who just got introduced to a great one.
Post-fight Crawford called out Manny Pacquiao, Julius Indongo, and even Keith Thurman.
In the opener Ray Beltran (33-7-1, 21 KOs) smashed somewhat predictably overmatched Jonathan Maicelo (25-3, 12 KOs) of Peru. Maicelo was actually fighting pretty well through a round and a half. He also was awarded a knockdown in the first round, but it as an incorrect call as a the impact quite clearly came from from a headbutt. Beltran seemed to scored a knockdown of his own at the bell to the end first too, but the referee ruled it a slip.
Maicelo was not as fortunate in the second round. Half way through, Beltran landed a left hook square on the face of the Peruvian. Maicelo was immediately rendered unconscious, crashing hard to the floor with his head smashing against the mat. He was out longer than anyone likes a fighter to be and was eventually stretchered out, though he seemed okay if a little confused by the time they had him restrained. This was a knockout of the year candidate.
