As fans have no doubt read by now, WBO welterweight champ and pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford has been ordered to defend against Shawn Porter. The two sides have 30 days in which to make a deal, or the fight will go to purse bids. It seems then that the only way this fight doesn’t happen is if Crawford opts to vacate his belt. This seems unlikely, and we will instead see 34-year-old Crawford take on Porter in what could be Crawford’s toughest fight – ever.
Porter is teak-tough, he never stops coming, he has a chin to die for, and Porter is absolutely always in great, great shape. The 37-0(28) Crawford, as special as he is, as ultra-talented as he is, has a pretty thin resume at 147: Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez Jr, Amir Khan, Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Kell Brook. Porter, 31-3-1(17), has been in with Keith Thurman, Adrien Broner, Devon Alexander, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Kell Brook, Errol Spence.
And though Porter lost to Thurman and Spence, “Showtime” gave them both hell in great action fights. Can Porter bring the heat, his special blend of heat, and make Crawford fight harder than he’s ever been forced to fight before? From what Crawford said to ESPN.com, it appears he is up for the fight, for the challenge: “I’ve been begging for a real challenge for years,” he said. “All the so-called elite welterweights have shown no interest in fighting me. Now one of them is finally being forced to. I’ll show once again why I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Be ready.”
Rest assured, we fight fans WILL be ready for this one when it happens. It could be that, with the Spence-Manny Pacquiao fight, and now this one, 2021 becomes the year of the welterweights. Both fights have a very real chance of being special. Crawford, as slick as he is, has not been given a tough test in some time (you could argue the Kavaliauskas fight, where “Bud” got dropped but not officially).
Porter is not as fine a boxer as Crawford is, but he sure is tough, determined, and always ready for warfare. We’ve been waiting for some fighter to bring out the best in Crawford’s game, and it just might be that Porter, who gives no opponent the time or the space to breathe, is the man to do it. Can Crawford become the first man to stop Porter, or can Porter finally win the big one at the age of 33 (close losses to a prime Brook, Thurman, and Spence saw Porter fall short)?
This one cannot come around quickly enough.
I’ll believe it when I see it lol I think if Crawford does win this one he deserves a shot at Spence and proves for once he is suppose to be on the p4p list. Something tells me one of them will get covid or something will happen so it doesn’t take place