Shawn Porter believes he’s now the #1 welterweight in the division due to Errol Spence Jr. suffering an eye injury and not looking the same since his terrible car crash in 2019.
Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) believes he’s the man now, and he’ll be taking on arguably the #2 guy in the welterweight division in Terence Crawford on November 20th.
The winner of the Crawford vs. Porter fight will be able to stake the claim that they are the #1 fighter in the 147-lb division bar none.
Porter is fighting Crawford for his WBO welterweight title on pay-per-view in two months from now at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas.
Shawn Porter to force Crawford to react
Porter says he’s going to force Crawford into a position where he’s stuck in a reactionary mode just like Spence, and he won’t be able to take control as he normally does in his fights.
Porter knows what he sees from Crawford after studying his fighting style for years, and he’s unconcerned.
“You will see one person controlling the fight with Terence Crawford and that will be me,” said Porter to Zenger News. “For anyone who doesn’t see that, look at the fight with Errol Spence Jr. and Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia,” said Porter.
It’s helpful that Porter has picked up experience against Spence, Thurman, Yordenis Ugas, and Garcia ahead of his clash with Crawford on November 20th.
The difference in experience against elite-level opposition between Porter and Crawford is HUGE. It’s a bit odd because Crawford is a former three-division world champion, and you would think that he would have more experience than Porter.
The titles that Crawford has won during his career have come against these fighters:
- Jeff Horn
- Ricky Burns
- Julius Indongo
- Viktor Postol
- Thomas Dulorme
Those are good fighters, but none of them were elite guys, and in the case of Burns, he was at the end of his career. Crawford is an excellent fighter, but he hasn’t fought the same type of opposition that Porter has.
“I really do see myself being able to — like I did against Errol Spence — put him in uncomfortable situations that he’s never been in, forcing him to react, being able to overwhelm him, and, ultimately, to stop him,” said Porter.
If Porter can connect with many headshots on Crawford, he could very well knock him out. Crawford didn’t look good when he was getting hit hard in the first three rounds in his last fight against Kell Brook.
He was basically losing that fight when he caught Brook with a weak hook that he wasn’t expecting.
Crawford’s opposition has been too bland in the last ten years to know much about him, as he’s not fought anyone that could really test him. It’s a shame that Top Rank hasn’t been able to match Crawford against the talented fighters, and he’s now getting a little long in the tooth to be facing his first real test.
“Everybody’s always reacted to Terence, but just like with Errol Spence Jr., prior to me, he was always the dictator,” said Porter. “I don’t think that’s something he’s had to deal with as a professional — being forced to react.”
Porter is going to get knocked out.