Ready or not, Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol fight is on pay-per-view

It’s a fight not worthy of pay-per-view, but a bout worth watching -- if that makes sense.

Unbeaten World Boxing Organization light-welterweight champion Terence Crawford of Omaha and unbeaten World Boxing Council 140-pound champion Viktor Postol of the Ukraine don’t possess the cache of popularity to generate great sales typically reserved for pay bouts.

But their talent should make for compelling action July 23 at MGM Grand. The HBO pay-per-view bout will go for $49.95, and include the first super-middleweight title defense by Mexico’s Gilberto Ramirez and Southland featherweight Oscar Valdez in a WBO title qualifier.

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“I’m here to show everyone I belong here, and that I’m the next big star,” said Crawford, 28, who’s 28-0 with 20 knockouts. “I’ve just got to make a statement. When I look at this fight, I look at No. 1 versus No. 2, the best in the division, two undefeated fighters – you don’t always get that. So why not support an event that’s competitive?”

Crawford has been a steady performer on HBO, including impressive victories over Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa, Dierry Jean and Hank Lundy (fifth-round knockout in February), and Postol won his belt with an Oct. 3 10th-round knockout of heavy handed Argentinian Lucas Matthysse at StubHub Center, also on HBO.

“We’re looking for an opponent who can break Crawford in to pay-per-view, and this is an ideal time,” Crawford’s veteran promoter Bob Arum said. “It’s a good sell for our core audience, because people in boxing know this is a competitive fight. We’ve dressed up the undercard and hope for the best. We’re not looking for 500,000 [buys], but we need to start somewhere – just like we did with Oscar [De La Hoya] and Manny [Pacquiao].”

Crawford says he’s expecting a European-influenced style from Postol.

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“Stand up straight, straight right, jab, clinch, elbows here and there,” Crawford said. “There’s nothing he’s going to do come fight night to stop me from getting his belt. Matthysse just gave up because he was tired and frustrated, Postol’s jab was frustrating, he was holding Matthysse … he just got wore out.”

Postol, 32, answered, “I think Matthysse is a higher-level fighter than Crawford.

“I became a world champion, and I don’t want to stop fighting the best. Crawford is No. 1. He’s tall, awkward, can switch to southpaw. I’m a little older than him. I have more experience. There’s a Russian saying: You can never drink in too much experience. Once you have it, you never lose it.”

Postol has extra motivation to win.

“I haven’t told anyone this, but after the fight i will go home to Kiev, where my wife is pregnant with twin boys,” Postol said. “I have an obligation to go home with two world title belts -- one belt for each baby.”

Tickets, priced $50-$300, went on sale Tuesday.

Postol is trained by seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach at Hollywood’s Wild Card Boxing Club.

“It’s a 50/50 fight, both guys are fundamentally very, very good,” Roach said. “My guy is active with the jab. He’ll give Crawford trouble and I think the fans will get a good fight.

“Postol is patient. He breaks people down … with his jabs, body shots and a good work ethic. He doesn’t look for an easy knockout, doesn’t try to get lucky. He’s a very good worker.”

On stage, Crawford announced he wants it known he’s aware an extra edge is required for pay-per-view, so he said, “I’m looking forward to going in and destroying this man. This is different for me. I’m looking forward for many more of these to come.”

Arum said unbeaten Valdez (20-0, 17 KOs) will fight unbeaten Matias Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) for the WBO featherweight belt vacated by Vasyl Lomachenko, and Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) will meet Germany’s Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KOs) for the WBO super-middleweight belt. Also, unbeaten Phoenix welterweight Jose Benanvidez (24-0, 16 KOs) will meet Santa Barbara’s Francisco Santana (24-4-1, 12 KOs) in a bout scheduled for 10 rounds.

Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter @latimespugmire

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