This Saturday (February 27, 2016), New York’s famous Madison Square Garden hosts an evening of HBO Boxing with a card headlined by the Super Lightweight bout between Terence Crawford and Henry Lundy. Crawford is defending his WBO World title for the second time, and he enters the fight against the veteran Lundy as a massive -4000 favorite. Lundy is returning at +2000. Crawford is 27-0 overall, and he was the WBO’s Lightweight champion and the 2014 “Fighter of the Year” before moving up in weight class in 2015. Lundy is a rugged veteran who comes to fight, but he is 4-4 in his last eight bouts as he has faced a stepped up level of competition. Crawford had been in the running for a “superfight” with Manny Pacquiao, but promoter Bob Arum opted to use Tim Bradley again in that slot. As a consolation, Crawford gets the main event of Madison Square Garden against an opponent he is far superior to. The line currently has Crawford a huge -4000 favorite over Lundy, who is returning at +2000. The twelve round bout does not have an over/under posted on it as of yet. Do not make any mistake about it. Lundy is a tough professional who will come to fight, but this fight was booked as a showcase for Crawford. Crawford is a boxer/puncher who has scored 19 knock-outs in his career. Crawford also has more than ample technical prowess and he has proven he can manage a twelve round fight. This is a major step up fighting in new York, as he has been fighting out of his native Oklahoma and in the mid-west. He won the Lightweight world title on the road in England against Ricky Burns. Lundy is not expected to have the firepower or technique for this fight. The co-feature spot sees undefeated fighters square off at Lightweight as Felix Verdejo (19-0) takes in William Silva (23-0). Verdejo, who was in the 2012 Olympics representing Puerto Rico, is a massive -7000 favorite over the Brazilian Silva, who is returning at +3000. Verdejo is fighting in NYC and he is really becoming a draw with the Puerto Rican community. Silva has a fine record in Brazil, but the country is not a boxing hotbed and his resume is not on the level with that of Verdejo. The complete live event features eight fights in all, and has several of Top Rank’s prospects on as ticket draws. Undefeated Super Lightweight Mike Reed (17-0) is on thr card, as is New York’s Sean Monoghan (26-0). Monoghan’s 10 round fight against Finland’s Janne Forsman sees the local product coming in a big -6000 favorite over Forsman, who is returning at -6000.
