Crawford keeps lightweight crown

Terence Crawford retained his World Boxing Organization lightweight title and kept his undefeated record intact with a unanimous decision over the number one contender Ray Beltran.

The 27-year-old Crawford dominated the 12-round fight, switching to a southpaw stance at times to land shots, and making Mexico's Beltran miss before counterpunching effectively. In the final round, Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) was going for the knockout but Beltran managed to hang on and even landed a few left hooks of his own to keep Crawford at bay.

Crawford, who came into the ring almost 20 pounds heavier than at the weigh-in, wants to move on from the 135-pound division to 140 pounds.

Crawford landed 243 punches compared to just 96 for Beltran and also had a big lead in total punches thrown, 436-162. Despite all the punishment he was taking, Beltran (29-7-1, 17 KOs) continued to plough forward and even had enough left in the tank to make it an entertaining 12th round.