Betting odds: Terence Crawford vs. Amir Khan
- Crawford odds: -2000
- Khan odds: +1000
- Over/Under: 9.5 Rounds (Over +150/Under -180)
- Time: Approx. 11 p.m. ET
- How to watch: ESPN Pay-Per-View
- Location: Madison Square Garden
One of the best boxers in the world, Terence Crawford, is in action on Saturday night as he puts his WBO Welterweight Title on the line against Amir Khan.
Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) is considered by many to be the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world and is on the path to stardom. As the odds suggest this fight shouldn't be more than another stepping stone for "Bud" but Khan, a former Olympian, is a decent name in the boxing world and has a few big wins on his resume.
Khan, once in the conversation to become 'the next big thing' in British boxing, has since seen his career turn down the "gatekeeper" path.
This is Crawford's third fight at 147 pounds. After unifying all four belts at 140, "Bud" has earned impressive wins over Jeff Horn and Joseph Benavidez Jr.
Betting market
Crawford has always been a big favorite in this fight, but it's been one-way traffic since the market opened. After opening between -600 and -900 depending on the sportsbook, Crawford has moved out the of the single digits and is now up to -2000 at the Westgate SuperBook with Khan coming back at +1000.
At -2000/+1000, the odds suggest Crawford wins this fight 91.3% of the time.
How Amir Khan Can Win
By Malik Smith
Khan has been in big fights like this one before and, save for being completely undersized against Canelo Àlvarez he typically rises to the occasion.
His best chance for winning this fight: Stick and move.
A seemingly obvious strategy for avoid a big power puncher like Crawford, but one that Khan can stick to if he's disciplined. Khan showed off some power in his two recent fights scoring two knockdowns in each. That is unlikely to happen here, against Crawford.
Khan's best tools are his foot speed and quick hands. His advantage in those areas, coupled with the fact that he can get off to a quick start give him an early window for success. For all of Bud's talent, he doesn't get into a rhythm quickly and could potentially get caught off guard by the hard charging Khan early on.
How Terence Crawford Can Win
By Michael Leboff
Terence "Bud" Crawford is one of the finest fighters of this generation thanks to his versatility, technical skill and incredible boxing IQ. If he played baseball, "Bud" would be considered a five-tool player.
Crawford's game-planning and in-fight adjustments are second-to-none and the 31-year-old will rely on his intelligence to weather whatever storm Khan can muster up in the early rounds.
Khan has good handspeed and is a technically gifted boxer, so it wouldn't surprise me if Crawford lets Khan dictate the tempo in the early going to get his timing down and feel his power.
Bud has developed a reputation of being a slow starter, but I think that is by design. He wants to download as much information as he can in the first two or three rounds and then use it to destroy you.
Crawford's best path to victory is to mix up his looks against Khan. If he does that successfully, it will take away the Brit's best asset, which is his speed.
By changing his looks and forcing Khan to think about where the next punch will come from — Bud switches between orthodox and southpaw — Crawford will cause Khan to hesitate and that will open up plenty of opportunities for the Nebraskan to cause damage.
And once he does that, he doesn't step off the pedal until the show is over.
Crawford vs. Khan Picks
With very little value in the outright odds, I am instead focusing on the Over/Under.
Betting the Under in Terence Crawford fights is always tough because of Bud's tendency to basically punt on the first two rounds. Crawford spends the first six minutes in the ring learning everything he can about his opponents and he will sit on his hands a little, which will give Khan a sense of false security.
By the time Crawford really gets going I think Khan will be in full offense mode and that will leave him open to be punished by Bud's accurate and diverse attack. Once that happens, it will only be a matter of time.
In his fight against Alvarez, Khan was the better boxer for the first four rounds and looked like he actually could give Canelo a run for his money. And then he got the lights shut out on him in the sixth round. Sure, Khan went up in weight for that fight and Canelo has more power than Crawford thanks to his size, but I think we're going to see a similar script in this fight.
It may take a few rounds for Bud to find his footing, but once he does I don't think there's much Khan will be able to do to prevent himself from getting pummeled.
Betting on Khan to be able to hang with arguably the best fighter in the world until the midway point of Round 10 is a big ask. I think this fight ends before that mark 75% of the time and thus think there's value on backing the Under. — Michael Leboff
This is Crawford's biggest promotion to date and he needs a convincing victory to set up bigger unifications fights down the road against Keith Thurman (WBA), Shawn Porter (WBC) or Errol Spence (IBF).
That said I'm expecting the typical Crawford strategy: feel out the first four to five rounds and start attacking mid-way through. I tend to agree that this fight won't go beyond Round 9. I like the fight to end between Round 7-9 at +310. — Malik Smith
