ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Terence Crawford won the vacant WBO junior welterweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Thomas Dulorme on Saturday night. The scheduled 12-round fight came a week before Crawford, now 26-0 with 18 knockouts, is scheduled to be in New York to accept his 2014 fighter of the year award from the Boxing Writers Association of America. Arum this week called Crawford a new superstar on the horizon, and said this fight a "very, very crucial first step" for Crawford to join the truly elite group of fighters. In an earlier eight-round lightweight matchup of previously unbeaten fighters, Ismail Muwendo from Minneapolis improved to 17-0 with a majority decision over Rolando Chinea from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Benjamin "The Blaxican" Whitaker from San Antonio improved to 9-1 as a pro with a unanimous decision over Skender Halili, a boxer from nearby Fort Worth whose had won each of his previous eight professional fights by knockout.