Junior welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford withstood the trash-talking of challenger Hank Lundy leading up to their fight on Saturday in Omaha, Nebraska to knock him out in five rounds.

Lundy (26-6-1, 13KO) fought aggressively in the opening round and managed to land a few right hands and left hooks on Crawford. The champion soon switched to a southpaw stance and began to land right hand jabs and straight lefts.

Crawford (28-0, 20KO) remained patient through four rounds. Lundy’s punch output noticeably declined once Crawford started to throw punches and Lundy is the type of fighter who doesn’t fight well off the back foot. The end was inevitable.

An overhand right hand in the 5^th round had Lundy on wobbly legs and a left hand put him down for the knockdown. He rose on unsteady legs and Crawford jumped on him, trapping him against the ropes and wailing away with power shots until the referee mercifully stopped the fight.

The stats show Crawford dominating the contest as he landed 89 of 247 thrown punches (36%) while Lundy landed 47 of 211 (22%). Crawford’s future has the possibility of Manny Pacquiao if the Filipino star and defeat Timothy Bradly in April or Ruslan Provodnikov according to promotor Bob Arum. A matchup with Viktor Postol would probably not be the most exciting, but it would pit the two best guys in the division against each other which is why it’s the bout that makes the most sense. So we probably won’t get that matchup.

Crawford (right) looking to finish off Lundy (left)