WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford says he doesn’t want the fight with ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) because it doesn’t make sense for him right now. Crawford says he’s “Focused on” other fights. Who knows? This might be the Top Rank promoted Crawford’s last chance to get a fight against one of the elite PBC fighters.
The reaction from fans to Crawford REJECTING the Porter fight has been overwhelmingly been negative to the extreme, as they now view the Omaha native as a ducking cherry-picker, who has built his 11-year professional on the back of lesser opposition.
Crawford says NO to Porter fight
“That’s not a fight that I’m focused on right now or even worried about,” said Crawford to DAZN about a fight between him and Porter. “I’m focused on other things right now. If we had to fight and if it made sense, then that would be a fight that we would both agree upon. But right now, I feel like that’s not something we should discuss right now, because there’s nothing on the table for me,” said Crawford.
Terence isn’t saying what other fights are, but his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing mentioned recently that he wants to match Crawford against these elite light welterweights in 2020: Jose Ramirez, Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis. Crawford would have a size advantage against all of them, and they arguably be easier fights than if he were to face Porter, who would be a bad style match-up for him.
Choosing to say no to the Porter fight should arguably remove Crawford from the running to get the Errol Spence Jr. fight, because this a prerequisite proving-type of fight where Terence would show whether he deserves to share the ring with him. Right now, Crawford’s resume is so poor that you can’t really say that he deserves a fight with Spence, unfortunately.
Given the level of opposition that Crawford has fought during his career in building up his perfect 36-0 record, it’s not surprising that he’s turned down the Porter fight. Porter is the complete opposite of the guys that Crawford has fought since turning professional. He’s talented, and a true world class fighter with the size, boxing skills and the power to fight Crawford on his own terms. Porter wouldn’t be a huge underdog in a fight against Crawford.
Porter’s fighting style is ALL WRONG for Crawford
From the switch-hitting Crawford’s perspective, it’s probably a smart move for him to DODGE the Porter fight. With Crawford’s counter-punching style of fighting, Porter would be the worst type of fighter that he could ever face. Counter-punchers don’t do well against fighters that smother them the way Porter does, and they struggle against guys that force an inside fight.
Porter would take away Crawford’s counter punching ability, and render his switch-hitting ability as useless by forcing an inside war. Crawford has long arms, and can’t fight effectively in close. As a result, Crawford is like a fish out of water when he’s forced to fight in close, and Porter would have a field day against him.
These are Crawford’s best opponents during his 11-year pro career:
- Yuriorkis Gamboa
- Ricky Burns
- Raymundo Beltran
- Jeff Horn
- Jose Benavidez Jr.
- Amir Khan
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas
- Viktor Postol
- Thomas Dulorme
- John Molina Jr.
- Felix Diaz
- Julius Indongo
- Hank Lundy
None of those fighters are the best in their weight classes, and it’s painfully obvious that Crawford has a padded record filled with soft jobs. Since Crawford has never proven himself, you can’t rate him up there with guys like Spence, Porter, Manny Pacquiao, Keith Thurman or Danny Garcia. In other words, the PBC fighters have to be viewed as above Crawford in this writer’s view.
With Crawford about to turn 33, his days are numbered as a top fighter. He was knocked down in his last fight against Egidijus Kavaliauskas on December 14, and he struggled big time until stopping him in the 9th round with a rabbit shot.
This is very sad news that Crawford doesn’t want the Porter fight, because Shawn and his dad Kenny have been begging him to have his promoters at Top Rank call them to start putting the fight together.
