By Jackie Kallen
The shoot-out for supremacy in the P4P ratings continues this weekend as 28 year old Terrance Crawford puts his WBO Super Lightweight belt up for stakes. He’ll do it in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska, on HBO, in front of his adoring, supportive followers. Dierry Jean, a 29-1 Haitian fighter who now lives in Montreal, will try to score the upset.
Jean’s only loss was a decision loss to Lamont Peterson in Peterson’s birthplace of Washington, DC in January 2014. Jean is stepping into someone else’s backyard once again. This time he feels he is reportedly better equipped and better conditioned mentally. Having fought a man on his home turf before, he is already familiar with the emotional baggage it brings.
HBO is enthralled with Crawford and as long as he keeps winning, they will be solidly behind him. Jean would like to steal that limelight for himself. He knows this is a golden opportunity and his team has been telling anyone who will listen that they plan on a victory.
Both men have equal punching power. Crawford is an inch and a half taller and five years younger. Neither man has been up against the most elite boxers in their weight class, but this is a pivotal fight for both. Crawford has no intention of ruining his undefeated record and Jean has vowed not to experience the taste of defeat again.
Jean is a natural 140 pound fighter, while Crawford started at lightweight and moved up earlier this year when he fought Thomas Dulorme to win the title. This is his first defense at super lightweight. He seemed quite comfortable at the weight and knocked Dulorme down three times before stopping him in the sixth round.
Having won four times since his loss to Peterson, Jean is on a roll. Three of those wins were by KO and he is hoping that a win (or even a good showing) will boost his stock. Both men are looking ahead to names like Viktor Postol, Adrien Broner and Omar Figueroa, jr.
Fellow Canadian 26 year-old Mikeal Zewski will fight a 10-rounder on the undercard. The 26-1 welterweight is coming off a May loss to Konstantin Ponomarev in Las Vegas. Prior to the loss, he was knocking out 74% of his opponents. He’ll be facing lightly-regarded Ayi Bruce, who has lost 7 out of his last 10 bouts, getting stopped four of those times. This is basically an activity fight for Zweski.