Terence Crawford throws punch at rival Jose Benavidez Jr during heated weigh-in as pair come to blows

TERENCE CRAWFORD can count himself a lucky boy after narrowly missing with a wild right hook during his heated face off with rival Jose Benavidez Jr.

The WBO welterweight champion reacted furiously after being shoved by the unbeaten challenger after the pair both made weight ahead of their world title fight.

Luckily for the three-weight world champion, his 26-year-old opponent dodged out of the way of the punch, before security and police quickly jumped in to diffuse the situation.

Less than a week after the ugly post-fight scenes marred Khabib Nurmagomedov’s victory against Conor McGregor, Crawford’s actions almost cost him competing entirely.

Benavidez Jr has been constantly trash-talking the pound-for-pound king in the build-up to this weekend’s bout, with the 31-year-old insisting he doesn’t deserve the opportunity to face him.

Speaking to ESPN after the incident, Crawford said: “They’ve been telling me to be cool all week. I’ve been cool, I’ve been keeping it professional, and he pushed me.”

While Crawford – defending his belt for the first time since beating Jeff Horn in June – added: “I’m just going to go out there and shut him up. That’s it. That’s all.”

Benavidez Jr believes he has the skills to inflict the first defeat on Crawford’s perfect record, as he looks to join his younger brother David by becoming a world champ.

He said: “I’m in his head. And I hope he swings faster than what he swung today, because I’ve seen that punch coming a mile away. And I hope he puts more power into that too because that’s a b**** punch he threw.

“I don’t see anything special [in Terence Crawford].”