Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford is saying he’s going to prove that he’s the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing by beating Shawn Porter on November 20th to cement himself as the top fighter in the sport.
A one-sided wipeout of ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter for Crawford could put him above Canelo Alvarez in the pound-for-pound rankings.
The unbeaten Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) isn’t just talking about putting himself at the top of the 147-lb division. He’s talking about all of boxing.
Crawford is defending his WBO welterweight title against the former IBF/WBC champion Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) on November 20th ESPN PPV+ at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas
Porter is coming to win, and he feels he’s got the right style to bring Crawford down to earth in this fight.
We haven’t seen Crawford fight anyone risky since he moved up to the welterweight division in 2018, and it’s going to be enlightening to see how he performs against a good A-level fighter for the first time.
You can also say that fans never got a chance to see Crawford fight an A-level guy when he was competing at 140 and 135. It’s unfortunate but the best guy that Crawford fought at 140 is Viktor Postol, who has already been shown to be a B-level guy in losses to Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor.
“That’s the reason why he’s pound-for-pound the number one fighter in the world, and I guarantee you that,” said Crawford when asked what boxing fans will be saying after his fight with Porter on November 20th.
“What does it mean to fight Shawn right now is putting that little extra stamp on being considered the best welterweight,” said Crawford.
“Shawn Porter has fought everybody in the division dating back to when he was fighting the likes of Julio Diaz, Paulie Malignaggi, and those types of guys.
“Shawn being in there with everybody, I just feel like this is the time for these other welterweights to step up, and he’s the one that stepped up,” said Crawford.
Porter has also fought these guys during his career at 147:
- Errol Spence Jr – SD 12 loss
- Adrien Broner – UD 12 win
- Keith Thurman – UD 12 loss
- Yordenis Ugas – SD 12 win #Controversial
- Andre Berto – TKO 9 win
- Danny Garcia – UD 12 win
- Kell Brook – MD 12 loss
- Devon Alexander – UD 12 win
- Ray Robinson – UD 10 win
“This fight is really going to show the caliber of fighter that I am and the skill set that I (possess at welterweight),” Crawford said.
“They’re going to look at me and say, ‘Oh, this is the reason why certain fights haven’t manifested or come to fruition because he’s that good.’”
If Crawford loses to Porter, you can argue that he wasn’t prepared ahead of time to fight a guy at this level at welterweight. When your promoters match you the way Crawford has been his entire 13-year pro career, it shouldn’t be a complete shot if he loses.