WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) stayed unbeaten on Saturday night with a 10th round knockout win over Shawn Porter (31-4-1, 17 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.
Crawford knocked Porter down twice in the 10th round, and after the second knockdown, the fight was halted by Shawn’s dad/trainer.
It was a good fight and one of the toughest of Crawford’s career, as he struggled with Porter’s aggressive style. If not Porter gassing out, he might have given Crawford a run for his money.
Unbeaten Esquiva Falcao (29-0, 20 KOs) beat Patrice Volny (16-1, 10 KOs) by a six round technical decision in an IBF middleweight title eliminator. The fight was halted after six round because of a bad cut that Falcao suffered from a head-butt. The scores were as follows:
- 58-57 – Falcao
- 58-56 – Falcao
- 58-56 – Volny
Falcao is the mandatory now for IBF 160-lb champion Gennadiy Golovkin. It’ll be interesting to see if Golovkin defends against Falcao in 2022.
The hard-hitting undefeated middleweight Janibek Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs) picked up one of the most important wins of his early career tonight in stopping former WBA/WBO 160-lb champion Hassan N’Dam (38-6, 21 KOs) by an eighth round knockout.
The 28-year-old 2016 Olympian Janikek knocked N’Dam down in the third, and inflicted a lot of punishment on him until the referee Kenny Bayless stopped the contest in the eighth.
N’Dam, 37, was running around the ring, trying to survive and not doing a good job of it. The time of the stoppage was at 2;40 of the eight. N’Dam’s record in his last six fights: 2-4.
Lightweight Raymond Muratalla (13-0, 11 KOs) put in a clinical performance tonight in beating Elias Araujo (21-4, 8 KOs) by a fifth round knockout.
Araujo, who was brought in as a substitute, had nothing to offer, and he was getting pounded by Maratalla in rounds one through four.
In the fifth, referee Allen Huggins had seen enough and stepped in and halted the fight at the 2:20 mark.
Former WBO 122-lb champion Isaac Dogboe (28-3, 15 KOs) used his superior conditioning to rally to defeat Christopher Diaz (26-4, 16 KOs) by a 10 round majority decision.
Dogboe, 27, looked like he was on his way to losing the fight in the first half, as Diaz landed a lot of nice shots and looked impressive.
However, in the last five rounds. Diaz gassed out, allowing Dogboe to creep back into the fight and edge a narrow decision. The scores were 97-94, 96-94, and 95-95.
Featherweights Adam Lopez (15-3-1, 6 KOs) and Adan Ochoa (12-2-1, 5 KOs) had their rematch ruled as a no decision after two rounds due to a cut the 23-year-old Ochoa suffered in the second.
The fight was stopped at the end of the second round after it was decided that Ochoa’s cut was too severe for the match to be allowed to continue. Lopez defeated Ochoa in 2017 by a four round decision.
In a strong performance, super featherweight Karlos Balderas (11-1, 10 KOs) dispatched a game Julio Cortez (15-4, 11 KOs) in scoring a fourth round TKO in a scheduled six round fight.
The 2016 U.S Olympian Balderas, 25, landed an avalanche of heavy shots to the head of Cortez in the fourth, making it necessary for referee Raul Caiz Jr. to call a halt to the bout. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:13 of the fourth.
For Balderas, this is his second consecutive victory since his upset sixth round knockout loss to Juan Rene Tellez in December 2019.
2020 U.S Olympian Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson (1-0, 1 KOs) battered an overmatched Antonious Grabel (3-2-1, 3 KOs) in his pro debut in scoring a fourth round knockout.
The 23-year-old Johnson was having his way against Grabel in the fourth when the referee decided he’d seen enough and stopped the bout. The fight was officially stopped at 1:54 of the fourth.
Preview:
This is the first REAL test for the 34-year-old Crawford in his 13-year career and should be thrilling to see if he passes or if he’s exposed by the former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Porter.
For Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), he’s got to show that he’s still relevant after struggling against Yordenis Ugas and Errol Spence Jr. in what should have been a pair of defeats, and then doing nothing since those fights other than a low-level win over bottom fringe contender Sebastian Formella last year.
Crawford hasn’t proven much at 147
“Shawn has a very good intuitive sense, it’s like it’s instinctual when to engage whenever the other guy doesn’t want to and then you see Shawn roughing him up,” said Max Kellerman to the media.
“Now the other guy says, ‘Okay, we’re going to brawl,’ and now Shawn is on the outside, which means he is the fighter with the initiative. He’s the one dictating how it’s going to go.
“He [Crawford] hasn’t proven as much at welterweight, but I suspect he’s the best welterweight in the world and that’s the whole thing,” Kellerman continued. “It’s just that you suspect it but you don’t have the evidence yet.
“If he [Crawford] has a better time with Shawn than [Errol] Spence or [Keith] Thurman for that matter, then that’s a good piece of evidence. Then it becomes who wants to make the fight and who doesn’t?
“If Spence, Thurman, or whoever never really wants to make the fight, then they won’t fight him. Then we’ll look at what he [Crawford] did against Porter, if he wins more impressively than that, and that’s still a big IF.
“Shawn is being a little bit disrespected with people just assuming he’s going to lose by a wide margin. But if that happens, then people will draw their conclusions that the PBC guys are using the [other side of the] street as an excuse [to protect Premier Boxing Champions welterweights Porter, Spence, Thurman, and Danny Garcia],” said Kellerman.
Porter, 33, has a real shot at winning tonight if he can stay close to Crawford, and force him to fight an inside war for the full 12 rounds.
If Crawford is able to keep the fight at medium to long-range, Porter’s chances of winning the fight will drop off considerably.
Porter got the worst of it when he fought Errol Spence Jr, Keith Thurman, Kell Brook, and Yordenis Ugas from the outside. If Porter couldn’t deal with those guys’ game from the outside, he’s going to be lost tonight against Crawford.
Crawford vs. Spence next?
“What’s the #1 fight you can make in combat sports? It’s Crawford vs. Spence. Think about this one,” said Kellerman.
“How many times in the history of boxing that there have been two guys in or around their primes and in and around their best weight division, who are both boxer/punchers, meaning we’ve seen them win big fights on their boxing ability.
“Errol Spence outboxed Mikey [Garcia]. ‘Oh, Mikey was moving up.’ Mikey is very, very good, and Errol beat him behind his southpaw jab and his defense.
“We know he’s a boxer/puncher, and we know they’re complete fighters. Spence, high volume of punches, real punching power, hand speed, boxing skills, can play defense, has shown heart, chin, stamina, and Crawford a switch-hitter and all that.
“How often guys with those styles in their primes in their best division, both been undefeated, both been top-five pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Let me put it another way.
“The winner of that fight, everyone would say, is the best pound-for-pound fighter. How many times has that happened in the history of boxing?
“[Felix] Trinidad was not a boxer/puncher. Trinidad was a destroyer. Ike Quartey was not a top pound-for-pound fighter.
“Mosley-De La Hoya, De La Hoya wasn’t undefeated. The closest [that compared to Spence vs. Crawford] is Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, but Sugar Ray had lost to Roberto Duran.
“I’m not saying it’s the best fight ever, but it is a very rare and even unique circumstance, and if Crawford beats Porter and let’s not rush there because Porter is here for a reason.
“If he does, that’s the best fight [Crawford vs. Spence], and if it doesn’t happen, fans are going to want to know why,” said Kellerman.
There’s a good possibility that we may be seeing Crawford vs. Spence Jr. in 2022. Whether that’s next is unclear, but I’d say it’s likely in the second half of next year.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said this week that he’s interested in making a fight between Crawford and Josh Taylor next year, so that’s probably the fight that happens next, provided Terence wins tonight against Porter.
Jaron Ennis ready to take over at 147
“We got to see [Jaron Ennis] ‘Boots’ on the next level, but ‘Boots’ is very promising,” said Kellerman. “He has deep skill, but the only question is does he have the level of fast-twitch [muscle fibers] to now take it to the next level because usually guys that are as skilled as ‘Boots,’ what separates them to where they turn out good world-class or great world-class fighters depends on if they have that next-level speed.
“So a lower-level fighter, ‘Boots,’ can look quick and he is quick, but now we need to see him against that next level. He’s obviously very skilled.
“Tommy Hearns at welterweight only ever lost one fight to Sugar Ray Leonard and it was Sugar Ray Leonard’s best night, and he has to come back in the fight to do it, and he needed 15 rounds. 12 rounds wouldn’t have got it done.
So, Hearns at welterweight, no one is unbeatable, but it takes like one of the best fighters in his prime on his best night in a come from behind win.
“That was Hearns’ only lost at welterweight. Maybe But could do it, but Tommy Hearns was different at welterweight,” said Kellerman in comparing Crawford to boxing legend ‘Hitman’ Thomas Hearns.
Jaron Ennis could be the one that takes over the welterweight division now that Crawford, Porter, Errol Spence Jr., and Keith Thurman are getting up there in age.
Kellerman may not be paying attention to Crawford’s age or maybe he doesn’t care because he’s pumping him up due to him being an ESPN fighter.
WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and Shawn Porter will be battling tonight in their highly anticipated fight on ESPN+ PPV at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The unbeaten – but untested – Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) will be attempting to show the boxing world and the welterweight division that he’s as good as some people think.
Boxing 247 will be giving live results blow of tonights’ action from Las Vegas.