By Jake Donovan

Terence Crawford capped a Fighter of the Year-worthy 2014 ring campaign with a wide unanimous decision win over Raymundo Beltran to claim the World lineal lightweight championship Saturday evening at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

The bout lacked the new car scent that came with Crawford’s previous homecoming, a 9th round knockout of Yuriorkis Gamboa in their Fight of the Year contender this past June. Still, the packed house of 11,127 cheered every move made by the local favorite, making for a festive occasion on the tail end of Thanksgiving weekend. 

Action was slow out the gate, with the opening round used as a feeling out session for both fighters. Crawford picked up the pace in round two, finding success from both sides of the plate, boxing equally well from a conventional and southpaw stance. 

Beltran finally caught Crawford’s attention in round three, scoring big with a right hand. Whereas most fighters would be inclined to clinch their way out of trouble, Crawford opted to return fire, hurting Beltran towards the end of the round. 

Pure boxing was enough to get the job done in round four, as Crawford continued to confuse Beltran as he constantly switch stances and tactics. The visiting challenger found a way inside in round five, his best three minutes of the fight to that point.

Rapidly developing into a complete fighter, Crawford resumed control in round six, picking apart Beltran from the outside largely on the strength of his jab. Action became a two-way street in round seven, as Beltran scored with straight rights and the occasional left hook. 

It was the closest the fight would ever come to threatening an upset. Crawford was in full control down the stretch, even as Beltran continued to fight as if a knockout would eventually come. The challenger had to believe that, as there was no way he was going to win a decision by being outworked in his opponent’s hometown. 

Make no mistake, though; there was no robbery on this occasion. Whereas Beltran took it on the chin by plenty of judges throughout his career, Crawford’s landslide victory was well earned on Saturday night. As the unbeaten lightweight picked up the pace in the championship rounds, the partisan crowd came alive in offering its full approval. 

Scores of 119-109 (twice) and 120-108 all landed in favor of Crawford, who improves to 25-0 (17KOs). The win nets the fighting pride of Omaha the vacant World lightweight championship, filling the void left behind by Juan Manuel Marquez more than three years ago. 

Crawford's win over Beltran caps a year that also included decisive victories over Gamboa and Ricky Burns.

Beltran falls to 29-7-1 (17KOs). The loss is his first following a questionable call versus then-unbeaten Luis Ramos Jr. nearly three years ago.

The 12-round lightweight championship contest aired live on HBO’s Boxing After Dark. In the televised co-feature, unbeaten featherweights Evgeny Gradovich and Jayson Velez fought to a debatable 12-round draw. A full recap can be found HERE . 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox