Terence Crawford dismantled Errol Spence Jr to become the four-belt era’s first undisputed welterweight champion.

The WBO champion, 35, knocked Spence down three times before the referee ended the punishment in the ninth.

Spence, 33, was undefeated in 28 fights heading into the Las Vegas showdown, and it was his eighth world title bout in a row.

A tentative opening round saw neither man willing to engage. Spence dropped behind his jab in the second and found success, but it quickly emerged that Crawford was looking for huge counters.

One whipped centimetres past Spence’s face, then Crawford found his mark moments later, dropping an advancing Spence with a counter one-two.

Spence wobbled, but was back on his feet quickly, and Crawford delivered a strong right on his opponent at the bell.

The speed and timing of Crawford sparked moments of panic from Spence, who tried to push ahead in the third and impose himself.

But Crawford was too quick for his rival, repeatedly tagging Spence with counters.

He was smacked with an uppercut in the fourth, then ducked into several hooks from Crawford before eating a massive long left that sent blood flying from the Texan’s nose.

Crawford continued to pick Spence apart in the fifth, selecting his shots cleverly and punishing his opponent with combinations.

Spence tried to fight fire with fire, but his timing was now completely skewed as Crawford began to push forward.

Spence attempted to fend him off with his jab, but the Omaha native punched through his defences with his own, tagging him repeatedly with left hands and mixing in uppercuts at close range. At the midway point, Crawford could count himself at least five rounds ahead, including the 10-8 knockdown round.

But this dominance was not enough for the WBO champion. He let Spence come onto him early in the seventh before countering with a thunderous uppercut, followed by a right hook that put his rival down for the second time.

Spence was again quick off the canvas, but unsteady on his feet. Crawford sensed an end was close, and stepped on the gas.

Spence bounced off the ropes trying to avoid the onslaught, but flew straight into another right hook that sent him down again.

The bell rang to save Spence and a convincing argument could have been made to pull the battered champion out of the contest.

Nevertheless, he emerged for the eighth, hoping to land one punch that could turn the fight around - but Crawford’s superiority was entrenched and he boxed beautifully off his jab, bamboozling Spence at will with his speed and movement.

Spence’s face was now battered, beginning to swell badly on the left side. His punches lacked power, while Crawford’s jab snapped back the head of his opponent.

The ninth round saw the punishment finally end for Spence when Crawford invited him to fight fire with fire, and the valiant champion did just that.

But while Crawford was calm, Spence was wild. Another right hook landed to stun Spence, and as his opponent unleashed a flurry of punches, the referee stepped in to stop the contest.

Crawford said before the fight the winner could call himself the best fighter in the world in any weight division, and few would surely find it difficult to disagree with 'Bud' after such a dominant performance..

The win makes him the first man to win undisputed titles in two weight classes as he stripped his fellow American of his WBC, WBA (Super) and IBF titles.

 –www.bbc.com