The World Boxing Organization has ordered WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and #2 contender Shawn Porter to begin negotiations for a fight. They have 30 days to reach a deal before a purse bid is ordered, with 60% for Crawford.
It’s a great move by the WBO to finally get this fight ordered because Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) and Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) have been spinning their wheels with no one to fight in the last couple of years.
The WBO is doing 147-lb champion Crawford and former IBF/WBC champion Porter a big favor by ordering this match to take place.
Their promotional teams have 30 days to get this done before it goes to a purse bid, opening it up for Matchroom and Triller to bid on it.
Top Rank would obviously like to control this fight unless Bob Arum views it as a match that won’t make money. For a fight like this, Crawford, 33, and Porter will want a lot of money.
It’s obviously going to be put pay-per-view, but unfortunately, Crawford has done poorly in the two times he’s headlined in PPV fights.
Assuming the Crawford-Porter fight does successfully get negotiated, it’s a toss-up. As good as Crawford has looked during his career, he’s never fought anyone remotely as talented as Porter.
All you got to do is look at Crawford’s resume to see that he glided through the 140 and 147-lb weight classes without anyone of note.
There’s just nobody at all on Crawford’s resume in the last eight years that you can say is a good fighter that Porter wouldn’t beat as well.
It’s kind of sad, really, because Crawford should have already been fighting top-level opposition many years ago instead of it finally about to happen after he’d been a pro for 13 years and is on the verge of turning a ripe 34.
Crawford’s opposition at 140 & 147
- Kell Brook – past it
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas
- Amir Khan
- Jose Benavidez Jr
- Jeff Horn
- Julius Indongo
- Felix Diaz Jr
- John Molina Jr
- Viktor Postol
- Thomas Dulorme
- Henry Lundy
- Dierry Jean
For a lot of casual boxing fans, they view this as another slamdunk win for Crawford, but it might not be. Porter has a smothering style of fighting that negates everything that Crawford does well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6lk_jTN10w
Crawford is a counter puncher, and those types of fighters need space to work. You can’t throw your counter shots when you’re trapped on the inside, being worked over by a fighter like Porter.
We haven’t seen Crawford’s tested during his career because his opposition didn’t get a chance to land many shots on him due to his defense. But against Porter, Crawford will be tested repeatedly, and we’re going to find out if he can take a shot.
Porter has been talking forever about wanting to fight Crawford, and he’d been frustrated at his inability to get the match. But now it’s finally here, and it’s going to be up to Crawford and his team at Top Rank if they want this fight.
There’s a lot to lose if you’re Crawford and Top rank. Crawford wants the winner of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence Jr fight, and he’s not going to want to take a risky fight against Porter and ruin that.
If Crawford vacates his WBO title, he won’t get the winner of the Pacquiao-Spence match because his title is the only thing he’s got going for him.
It’s about time! Porter is going to wear out and drag Crawford for a convincing win or KO. Crawford really hasn’t done anything exceptional at 147, avoided the best of the best, whereas Porter has fought them all at Welter. Crawford has had time to fight Danny Garcia, Keith Thurman, Ugas, and even Spence, of which Porter has fought them all while Crawford watched at home from Omaha, and have to believe Arum has done Bud no favors. Take a lesson from the Golden Era of Legends… Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, Benitez, Pryor, Arguello. They man’d up, fought the best of the best, multiple times, in their prime, win, lose or draw, to see who was the best of the best, money was secondary. They had machismo. Between Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran, they had 9 FIGHTS amongst themselves alone! Porter is a throwback to that DNA; not on their level, but he will fight the best of the best, all you have to do is show up and bring your lunch pale, cause you’re in for a long night.