According to a tweet just sent out by the WBO, the sanctioning body has just named undisputed 140lb champion Terence Crawford the mandatory challenger to Jeff Horn’s 147lb world title.
Crawford recently captured all four major 140lb titles in August when he knocked out Julius Indongo in three rounds. That left Crawford with basically nothing left to accomplish at 140lbs, so a move up to welterweight has been anticipated. And this new announcement all but assures that Crawford will indeed be moving up to 147lbs.
Horn is most recently coming off of a stunning upset win over Manny Pacquiao in July — a fight no one really thought he had any shot to win. Horn did win on the cards, although there was certainly some skepticism over the official result, but becoming a world champion put him on the world scene nonetheless. Ironically, even as the newly-minted champion, Horn will be a considerably heavy underdog against Crawford, who has proven to be the goods.
According to the WBO, Horn will have 90 days from his upcoming Dec. 13 title defense against Gary Corcoran to stage a fight with Crawford.
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