Terence Crawford produced a scintillating stoppage in 2014, against a fighter who he later named his ‘toughest opponent’.
Crawford has fought some huge names in the sport during his meteoric rise to become a pound-for-pound great, including Errol Spence, Amir Khan and Jeff Horn.
But despite reigning as undisputed champion at two weights, one of his biggest statements came 10 years ago in a huge battle with highly talented Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Gamboa was undefeated with 23 wins at the time and had turned professional having won a gold medal the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
It was Crawford’s maiden defence of his WBO lightweight world title, and began at a ferocious pace with the Cuban on top in the early rounds.
The American switched to the southpaw stance and after a tough start, he began to reverse the momentum in the fourth period.
His breakthrough came in the fifth round as he dropped Gamboa for the first of four times, and his rival survived but was on wobbly legs.
Crawford scored another knockdown of the Cuban in the eighth with a brutal combination, but the resillient challenger battled on.
Although it was just a matter of time as the domination paid off in the ninth, as ‘Bud’ dropped his opponent for a third time.
But the curtain-closing moment came when he was briefly hurt by a response shot from Gamboa who desperately tried to fight back.
Crawford floored him with a ferocious uppercut as the lively exchange saw Gamboa on the canvas again, and this time the referee halted the contest.
When assessing that famous night in August 2023, Crawford named Gamboa as his toughest career challenge given his comparisons to boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.
He told Joe Rogan last year: “I would say Gamboa, because of the experience at the time.
“You have got to understand, I came from fighting six-round fights to a ten-round fight on HBO when I got the Breidis Prescott fight.
“So then I fight him, another guy for the Interim NABO, and then I fight for a title eliminator Klimov.
“Then I fight Ricky Burns, and come back and fight Gamboa when I become champion.
