Undefeated 140 pound world champions TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD and JULIUS INDONGO, will collide in a world title unification battle, Saturday, August 19, at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The rumble between Crawford, the two-division world champion and the holder of the World Boxing Organization (WBO), World Boxing Council (WBC) and The Ring magazine world titles and Indongo, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion, making his U.S. debut, will be televised live and exclusively at 10 p.m. EDT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN app.
Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Matchroom Boxing, tickets to the Crawford vs. Indongo world championship event go on sale This Saturday, July 15, at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT. Priced at $128, $78, $53, and $28, tickets can be purchased online via www.ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at the Pinnacle Bank Arena main ticket office, located in the south lobby, Monday -Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. CT.
“On any other day Lincoln is known for being the capital of Nebraska, but on August 19, it will be the capital of the boxing world,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “Thanks to ESPN, all eyes will be on the Crawford-Indongo fight which will not only determine the king of the division but will serve as a coronation for boxing’s best pound for pound fighter.”
“Julius Indongo is a champion with a lot of confidence right now being that he went over to Russia and took the title from Eduard Troyanovsky and then went to Scotland and took Ricky Burns’ title,” said Crawford. “Now he’s coming to the U.S. to challenge me. He’s a bigger threat now than at any other time because he has all the confidence in the world. A lot of people are going to see me fight on ESPN and I’m excited to perform for them.”
“I’m ready for Terence to solidify his name into boxing history and for me to show the world what I can do as his head trainer,” said Brian McIntyre, Crawford’s co-manager and trainer.
“Me and my team went to New York City – a trip of 20 hours from Namibia –
to watch Terence Crawford against Felix Diaz. I will tell you this – Crawford is a real champion. He had a big impressive win over Diaz. Crawford showed me real character in that fight.,” said Indongo. “On August 19, Crawford’s skill and power will bring out the best of me. I am ready and prepared to face him.”
“I’m delighted to get this fight over the line and help create one champion in the 140 lb division,” said Eddie Hearn, Indongo’s promoter. “There were plenty of offers for Julius but this was always the fight he wanted …the chance to become the undisputed champion. He has had back to back hugely impressive wins on the road and although he faces one of the P4P top fighters in world boxing, Julius is full of confidence ahead of this important fight for the sport”
Crawford (31-0, 22 KOs), of Omaha, Neb., is a two-division world champion who has won six of his last eight bouts by stoppage. In his 2017 debut which took place on May 20 in the main arena at Madison Square Garden, Crawford successfully defended his titles via a 10th-reund stoppage of former Olympic gold medalist and top-rated contender Félix Díaz. It is premium cable’s most-watched fight for 2017. Crawford unified the 140-pound titles in a battle between consensus Top-10 pound-for-pound fighters on July 23, 2016, successfully defending his WBO junior welterweight title for the third time by winning a unanimous decision over previously undefeated WBC super lightweight champion Viktor Postol. That victory also garnered him The Ring title, designating him the lineal champion. He made his first defense of his unified titles on December 10, 2016, stopping No. 1 contender and one-time world title challenger John Molina Jr. in front of a record crowd at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. The consensus Top-Five pound-for-pound fighter continues to build on his star-making 2014 which featured three world championship victories as well as Fighter of the Year honors from the Boxing Writers Association of America and major media alike. Crawford, 29, captured the vacant WBO junior welterweight crown on April 18, 2015, via a devastating sixth-round knockout of once-beaten No. 2 world-rated contender Thomas Dulorme. His title defenses include stopping No. 2 world-rated contender Dierry Jean in front of a packed house at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha on October 24, 2015, knocking out Top-10 contender Hank Lundy in the fifth round on February 27, 2016, at a sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden, and headlining his first pay-per-view on July 23, where he totally dominated Postol. Crawford began his world championship era on March 1, 2014. He captured his first world title, the WBO lightweight title, dethroning defending champion Ricky Burns on Burns’ home turf of Glasgow, Scotland. Scoring a powerful and unanimous decision, Crawford put the boxing world on notice with his virtuoso performance as he pulled out all stops in dismantling Burns, rocking the defending champion throughout the fight, while switching back and forth between orthodox and southpaw stances. He followed that with a dramatic and critically-acclaimed knockout victory of undefeated former world champion and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa on June 28, 2014, in a Fight of the Year nominee. It was one of the most-watched fights of the year with over 1.2 million viewers catching the live, first-time airing of the fight, according to Nielsen Media Research. He concluded 2014 on November 29 with a thorough shellacking of one-time world title challenger and No. 1 contender Ray Beltran, winning 11 of the 12 rounds. Crawford, who is friendly with Warren Buffet, is only the second Nebraska native to be recognized as a boxing world champion. Perry “Kid” Graves, from Rock Bluff, captured the welterweight crown, knocking out Johnny Alberts in Brooklyn, in 1914, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
Indongo (22-0, 12 KOs), from Windhoek, Nambia, has become a unified world champion in true road warrior fashion. The 5’11 southpaw captured the IBF junior welterweight title on December 3, 2016, via a spectacular first-round one-punch knockout of previously undefeated defending champion Eduard Troyanovsky. In his next fight, on April 15, he unified the titles by shellacking defending WBA world champion Ricky Burns via a dominant 12-round unanimous decision. Both victories took place in Russia and Scotland, the home countries of Troyanovsky and Burns, respectively. Three of his last four victories have been by stoppage. An amateur standout, Indongo, 34, represented Nambia in the 2008 Olympics.
