Terence Crawford puts his titles on the line against surprise package Julius Indongo

The two boxers go head to head in Nebraska for what promises to be a hugely entertaining fight

The American boosts a flawless record having won all 31 of his professional fights across a nine-year career (Getty)

The entire sporting world remains fixated on the spectacle that is Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor​, but another boxing match taking place tonight deserves much more attention. All four light welterweight titles are on the line in Lincoln, Nebraska, as Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo strive to become the true number one in their weight division.

31-0 across a nine-year professional career, Crawford has long been regarded as one of the greatest fighters on the planet. While many boxers typically have one, or if they’re very lucky, two significant X-factors in their athletic arsenal, Crawford is simply excellent at everything.

The 29-year-old is fast with both hand and foot, has a consistent defence, plenty of power, the ability to seamlessly change tactics within a fight, and a disarming ability to beat an opponent at their own game. In short, he’s special - and in victories over the likes of Viktor Postol, Thomas Dulorme and Ricky Burns, he has showed an exceptional ability to stay composed amidst great pressure.

Crawford was named the 2014 fighter of the year after a phenomenal 12 months where he became the best lightweight of his generation, and tonight he puts his WBC and WBO titles on the line against IBF and WBA champion Indongo, who at 34-years-old is experiencing an unexpectedly brilliant year.

Few expected much of the unknown Indongo when he travelled to Russia last December to face Eduard Troyanovsky, but everyone knew who he was forty seconds into the bout when he knocked out the Russian favourite to win the IBF title. That was the first time Indongo had fought outside of Namibia, and the second time was in April when he travelled to Scotland to face Ricky Burns.

Once again facing a hostile crowd and a home world champion, Indongo simply got on with the job, and convincingly outpointed Burns en route to becoming a double world champion. Although the Namibian will once again be fighting in a rival's backyard tonight in Nebraska, it’s hard to imagine that Indongo will feel anything other than supreme confidence. After all, he’s done it twice before, and the third time's a charm right?

Julius Indongo in action against Ricky Burn (Getty)

Indongo’s southpaw stance gave Burns plenty of problems in Glasgow, but Crawford is more than capable of dealing with awkward styles. The issue for the American is one of focus. Yes, the concept of becoming a unified champion is one few boxers can ever dream of, let alone achieve, but the rewards of victory could change his life forever.

Potential fights against Errol Spence Jr and Manny Pacquiao have been mooted, but they will only occur if he defeats Indongo, which is something no man has ever achieved before. The bookmakers believe it’s a done deal, however, with Crawford a huge 1/11 favourite. You can get rich betting on Indongo, with the African star 7/1 to win the fight via any method, and he has shown in the past that he has the power to upset the odds in the blink of an eye.

There is British interest on the undercard as Dillian Whyte fights Malcolm Tann on the undercard, while potential future opponent Bryant Jennings also competes against Daniel Martz.