The fight between welterweight world titleholder Jeff Horn and former undisputed junior welterweight world champion Terence Crawford was officially rescheduled on Thursday.
Horn, who will be making his second title defense, will face Crawford on June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced. The fight will headline a Top Rank ESPN event, but specific broadcast information has not yet been finalized. The fight will air either on ESPN+, the network's forthcoming subscription streaming service, or on the main network.
The 30-year-old Crawford, from Omaha, Nebraska, became the undisputed 140-pound champion on Aug. 19, when he unified the division's four major belts by knocking out Julius Indongo in the third round. He then vacated the titles in order to move up to 147 pounds to take on Horn as his mandatory challenger.
"It's exciting to see 'Bud' Crawford move up to the welterweight division. In Jeff Horn, he fights a big, rough, tough welterweight who won the title from one of the greats, Manny Pacquiao," Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said.
The fight was initially scheduled for April 14 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, but it was postponed when Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs), the 2017 ESPN fighter of the year, suffered a right hand injury during a sparring session earlier this month. The injury was not too serious, and the fight was quickly rescheduled.
"I cannot wait to get back in the ring on June 9 and win the WBO welterweight championship," said Crawford, who has remained in training camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado, since the injury. "Jeff Horn and his team better be ready, because they are going to see a bigger, stronger and more powerful Terence Crawford. I am going home with that belt."
In Crawford's only other bout at the MGM Grand, he knocked down Viktor Postol twice and won a lopsided decision to unify two of the junior welterweight belts in July 2016. Brian McIntyre, Crawford's manager and trainer, said they are looking forward to their return.
"We are excited to be fighting at MGM Grand and attempting to win another world title in a higher weight class, the welterweight division, which is stacked with talent," McIntyre said. "We are looking forward to fighting a really aggressive and determined fighter in Jeff Horn. June 9 will be another great night for Team Crawford in Las Vegas."
The 30-year-old Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs) won a controversial decision over Pacquiao to win the title in July before a crowd of some 51,000 at Suncorp Stadium in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. Horn defended the belt with an 11th-round knockout of Gary Corcoran on Dec. 13 to set the stage for the fight with Crawford, which will be Horn's first in the United States.
"Defending the world title successfully a second time is a must," said Horn, who was a 2012 Olympian. "Crawford is a very talented fighter and deserves his accolades. I will be on a mission to prove the doubters wrong. Obviously, I am a very competitive guy who works really hard to achieve his goals.
"Crawford is a brilliant boxer, but I am coming to win, and I will win. Crawford's trash talk has only inspired me that much more to shock the world once again."