Terence Crawford outclassed Jeff Horn to win the WBO welterweight title in dominant fashion in Las Vegas Saturday.
Crawford – who moved up in weight for the fight – was in control from the outset at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The unbeaten challenger (33-0) always looked in control before Horn went down in the ninth round, the fight stopped soon after to hand Crawford a technical knockout win.
Horn, defending his title and best known for his controversial win over Manny Pacquiao last year, never looked in Crawford's class.
Both fighters made a busy start, but it was Crawford landing the majority of the shots.
A fine start was capped by a dominant third round by Crawford, who was in complete control.
Horn (18-1-1) had few answers to Crawford, who landed a pair of big left hands in the fifth, as the Australian wrestled his opponent to try to slow him down.
Crawford almost ended the fight in the eighth, a huge left making Horn wobbly just before the bell.
It seemed only a matter of time before Crawford secured his win and it arrived in the ninth, Horn going down before the fight was stopped moments later.
Glenn Rushton, who is the head trainer for Horn, was not happy with the stoppage.
He felt Horn was in far more trouble against Pacquiao in their July 2017 encounter and could have easily continued to the end against Crawford.
Despite his fighter being dominated round after round in the contest, Rushton felt that his man could have still changed the tide of the fight in the championship rounds.
"Crawford was just sharp in there. He kept on countering Jeff's shots one at time," Rushton said.
"I thought there were some close rounds in there, and it was definitely a premature stoppage. He got hit harder by Pacquiao."
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