“Nobody’s done that to me”: Kell Brook beaten well by Terence Crawford | sport

Terence Crawford started off slow and finished quickly, stopping Kell Brook with a barrage of fourth round punches on Saturday night to retain his welterweight title.

Crawford went undefeated and retained his place on the top pound for pound list with an impressive save from the British fighter, who fought well for three rounds before succumbing to Crawford’s might.

Crawford reversed the fight with a big right hand that sent Brook to the ropes and prompted referee Tony Weeks to give him eight runs. When the fight resumed, he landed half a dozen punches to the head before Weeks closed the fight at 1:14 am of the fourth round.

“Kell is a huge talent, I can’t take anything away from him,” Crawford said. “But he lost to a better man tonight.

Brook said he thought he was in control of the fight when he was hit by the punch that sent him through the ring. “Never in my career has nobody done that to me, not even in a fight,” Brook said.

Crawford, who scored his 28th knockout taking his record to 37-0, took his time in the opening laps to understand Brook, who used his jab and speed to win the opening laps. After moving from an orthodox left-handed position, he started to land at a better pace before unleashing a right hook early in the fourth round that sent Brook (39-3) reeling into the ring.

The British challenger was held to his feet by the ropes, but when the fight resumed he was unable to defend himself as Crawford landed a flurry of punches before Weeks stopped the fight. Fight stats showed Crawford landed 36 of 111 punches compared to 26 of 109 for Brook. It was the eighth consecutive title knockout for Crawford.

Crawford said after the fight that he wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao next, a fight in negotiation before Crawford turned to Brook instead. “I’m looking to secure a Pacquiao fight,” the Nebraska fighter said. Promoter Bob Arum has said he has had negotiations to match Crawford to Pacquiao, with a possible spring fight in the Middle East.

The fight followed a bizarre ending in a title match between Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney, a rematch of their first fight in June.

Franco’s eye swelled from what was deemed an accidental header in the first round of the scheduled 12-round bout. After the ring doctor ruled that Franco could not continue at the end of the second round because his eye was closed, the fight was called a non-contest, meaning Franco retains the belt.

In London, Katie taylor sailed to a unanimous decision victory over Spain Miriam Gutierrez to remain the undisputed female lightweight world champion.

The 34-year-old Irishman made headlines at Wembley Arena in the last of three women’s world title fights and put in a stunning performance that well deserved a spotlight.

Gutiérrez, who was fighting for the first time outside his native Spain, entered the contest with a 13-0 record, but was simply outclassed by the impressive Taylor, with the judges scoring the one-sided 100 contest. -89, 100-90 and 99-91 in her favor as she retained her magazine titles WBA, IBF, WBC, WBO and Ring with ease.

“Yeah, very, very satisfied,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “I thought it was a great performance and it was really tough. Sometimes I did my best to get her out of there. It is very resistant but I could not get it out. I would have loved to stop today but it was a great performance. I was very happy today.

“There is no shortage of great fights. It’s about the legacy and history of the sport and inspiring the next generation, but yes people still haven’t seen the best of me.