Errol Spence Jr. says he’s not “worried” about fighting WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford yet after beating WBC champ Shawn Porter by a 12 round split decision last Saturday night on FOX Sports PPV at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) fought Porter’s fight for 12 rounds, and came out on top by the scores 116-111, 116-111 for Errol, and 115-112 or Porter.
Spence says Crawford brought in woeful pay-per-view numbers for his last fight on PPV against Amir Khan last April. Errol says Crawford isn’t being promoted right by his promoters at Top Rank. He hasn’t become a draw yet. As such, there’s no real reason for Spence to fight Crawford right now, because the money isn’t there. Whether it ever will be is unknown. If Top Rank is going to continue to match Crawford against the likes of Khan, Jose Benavidez and Jeff Horn, he likely won’t become a star.
Spence: Crawford brought in only 100K PPV buys in last fight
“The last time Crawford fought on pay-per-view, he had 100 thousand buys,” said Spence in dismissing a fight between him and Crawford at the post-fight news conference last Saturday night. “I’m not about Terence Crawford right now. They [Top Rank Boxing] don’t promote him the way they should be. We’ll worry about Crawford when we get there, but as I’ve said, Crawford needs me more than I need him,” said Spence.
Crawford will be in three months from now against Egidijus Kavaliauskas on December 14. That’s not a match-up that will further Crawford’s career. Terence is almost better off vacating his World Boxing Organization welterweight title so that he doesn’t get trapped having to defend against lesser fighters like Kavaliauskas. Top Rank likely doesn’t mind this fight, but unfortunately it’s not a match-up that helps Crawford.
Fans think Porter did enough to win
Some people think the fight should have been either a win for Porter or a draw. Looking at the contest in slow motion, Spence landed the cleaner, harder shots, while Porter missed frequently.
Spence vs. Porter final punch stats
Spence connected on 221 of 745 shots, while Porter landed 172 of 744 shots. They both threw about the same amount of shots, but Spence’s punches were a lot harder. He also scored a knockdown in the 11th round when he caught Porter with a left to the head that caused him to touch the canvas with both gloves.
Porter had trunks pulled up to high past his navel
What’s interesting to note is the claims by boxing fan that Spence was hitting Porter with low blows all night. The fact of the matter is, Porter has his trunks pulled up above his navel in order to prevent Spence from landing body shots.
The referee obviously noted how high Porter’s trunks were, and he permitted Spence to land shots on the beltline. The referee should have instructed for Porter to pull his trunks down, because they were pulled up so high that it gave the appearance that Spence was throwing low blows. In boxing fighters trying to game the system by pulling their trunks up as high as they can to avoid getting hit to the body.
It’s the referee’s job to police that kind of thing, because it can hurt a fighter in terms of the judging. If the judges are thinking that a fighter is throwing low blows all night, they’re not likely to score rounds for them. Porter got away with wearing his trunks high last night. The shots that Spence hit him with to the body were predominately where the belt line should have been had Porter’s trunks not been pulled up so high. Heavyweight Tyson Fury is another fighter that tends to have his trunks pulled high past his navel. He gets away with it
“It was a tough fight and I knew that coming in,” said Spence. “I felt like I won. When I got the knockdown and I tried to get the knockout. He’s a true warrior and he came back swinging…I’m a naturally aggressive fighter and Shawn tries to make you uncomfortable.”
Danny Garcia enters ring after fight to call out Spence
“It was a top dog fight tonight,” said Danny Garcia. “I want you next Errol. It was a tough rugged fight. Shawn Porter is a tough fighter. I’m here to say I want next.”
With a 2-2 record in his last four fights, Danny Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) needs the Spence fight badly to try and turn his sagging career around. The chances of Garcia winning are quite low. He’s not cut out to fight at the upper levels of the welterweight division. Garcia needs to consider moving back down to light welterweight division if he wants to save his career. He probably won’t do that through because this is more about money at this point. There’s no money or Danny at 140, so he’ll stay at welterweight until the bitter end. Garcia is a good B-side opponent for guys like Spence, Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao. The 31-year-old Garcia is made to order for Spence.
Crawford’s reaction to Spence’s win over Porter:
🥘🥘🥘😋😋😋🤫🤫🤫
— Terence Crawford (@terencecrawford) September 29, 2019
