Terence “Bud” Crawford will return to the CHI Health Center Omaha (formerly known as the The CenturyLink Center) as he looks to defend his WBO welterweight title against Jose Benavidez Jr on Saturday, October 13th. The bout will be Crawford’s first on his new contract with Top Rank Inc, as he fights live on ESPN at 10:30 PM EST/ 7:30 PM PST, with the undercard begining at 7 PM EST on ESPN+
It was Benavidez who challenged Crawford in Corpus Christi, Texas, this past February, accusing him of ducking a potential showdown, one that prompted Crawford to invite Benavidez outside of the weigh-in to resolve the conflict.

Tickets for the fight which is promoted by Top Rank will go on sale Tuesday, September 11th at 10 AM CST with price points of Priced at $178, $103, $63, and $38, not including applicable fees, tickets can be purchased at the CHI Health Center Omaha box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, or online at ticketmaster.com.

“The Crawford-Benavidez fight is an old-time grudge match. These are two elite fighters who don’t care for each other, to put it mildly,” said Bob Arum, Top Rank’s founder and CEO. “They will battle each other at a fever pitch. I can’t wait to watch the action.”

“This fight is the fight he has been calling for, and now he will get the chance to see what it’s like to be in the ring with a real champion,” Crawford said. I’ll happily give him his first L.”

“I’ve been wanting this fight for three years. I know I have what it takes to beat him, and I am going to beat him,” Benavidez said. “Crawford has been running his mouth and saying I’m a nobody. I’m going to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) is a three-division world champion, a pound-for-pound elite who was recently named “Fighter of the Year” at the 2018 ESPY Awards. In his first bout of 2018, June 9 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, he defeated WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn via ninth-round TKO in a bout Crawford thoroughly dominated. Crawford has been consistently selling out his hometown arena in Omaha, Nebraska since headlining against Yuriorkis Gamboa in an HBO main event in 2014.

Benavidez (27-0, 18 KOs), a former WBA interim super lightweight champion, turned pro in 2010 following a standout amateur career that included a 2009 National Golden Gloves gold medal at 141 pounds. His road to this career-defining fight has been anything but smooth, as he was shot multiple times in an August 2016 incident in his hometown of Phoenix. After a nearly 18-month layoff, Benavidez returned on Feb. 3, 2018 in Corpus Christi with an eighth-round TKO against Matthew Strode. It was before the weigh-in for the Strode bout that Benavidez confronted Crawford. Benavidez last fought on the Crawford vs. Horn undercard, knocking out the previously undefeated Frank Rojas at 1:23 of the opening round.