Cody Crowley suffered a second-round knockdown, but it proved to be the only blemish of his night, as the underdog Canadian scored a unanimous decision win against Kudratillo Abdukakhorov.

Crowley (20-0, 9 KOs) used a stocking attack with a clobbering jab, a volume of punches and a variety of combinations to score the upset victory and the best win of his seven-year career in a battle between unbeaten welterweight boxers Saturday night.

Crowley’s beautiful display of boxing got the attention of the judges as well. Alejandro Rochin scored it 97-92, Pat Russell had it 95-94, and Fernando Villarreal had a tally of 98-91.

Crowley connected on 206 out of 898 punches. Abdukakhorov landed on just 123 punches while throwing 402.

Heading into the fight, Abdukakhorov (18-1, 10 KOs) was ranked as the No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger at 147 pounds by the IBF for Errol Spence Jr.’s title, as well as No. 6 by both the WBO and WBC. Abdukakhorov’s seating will surely now shift after the massive setback. 

After a feeling-out first round, Abdukakhorov crushed Crowley in the second and scored a knockdown with a straight left hand as his back was against the ropes. Before the knockdown, the first of Crowley’s career, he was getting the better of the exchanges in a round Abdukakhorov was arguably losing. 

Crowley bounced back admirably in the third with a straight left hand, and seemingly never looked back. When the busier Crowley was attacking, the Uzbekistani Abdukakhorov was trying to counter while backing up, a script that would repeat throughout the night. 

Both boxers focused on attacking the body in the fourth as the fight continued to play out in close quarters. Abdukakhorov closed the round with a handful of left hooks.

A crushing left by Crowley busted the left ear of Abdukakhorov in the fifth. With blood trickling down the side of Abdukakhorov’s face, straight left and right hooks followed by Crowley.

The southpaw Crowley was a betting underdog, but was not fighting like one. Midway through the fight, the only round he’d arguably lost was the one he got dropped in.

The fighters clashed heads in the seventh but there wasn’t a cut. 

Crowley kept doing great work and hitting paydirt in the eight. Abdukakhorov mustered off a few counter punches, but certainly nothing meaningful to win the round. 

The Manny Robles-trained Abdukakhorov appeared fatigued in the ninth as a composed Crowley kept firing away. 

By the tenth round, Abdukakhorov was in survival mode as his offense was nowhere to be found. Clearly needing a KO to win the fight, Abdukakhorov didn’t offer much. Crowley kept pressing the action, highlighted by a three-punch combo with 80 seconds left in the fight. 

The 28-year-old Abdukakhorov was fighting in the United States for the fourth time in a row. His best win came in 2019 with a tenth-round technical decision win over former welterweight champion Luis Collazo.

The 28-year-old Crowley hadn't fought since September 2020 when he scored a shutout unanimous decision win against Josh Torres.

The fight took place as the co-feature of Showtime event headlined by WBC bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire and Reymart Gaballo at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. 

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com