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Crawford on Porter: “It’s a big opportunity to show why I’m the best fighter in the world”

WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford speaks during the press conference with Shawn Porter prior to their fight at Islander Ballroom at Mandalay Bay Hotel Casino on November 17, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)
Fighters Network
19
Nov

LAS VEGAS – As a lightweight, Terence Crawford impressed when he went on the road to Scotland and dismantled Ricky Burns to take his world title, knocked out then-undefeated Yuriorkis Gamboa and then shut out tough mandatory challenger Ray Beltran.

As a junior welterweight, Crawford became the undisputed world champion by dropping then-undefeated Viktor Postol and winning a lopsided decision to unify two belts and then destroying then-undefeated Julius Indongo in three rounds to take his two titles.

But since moving up to welterweight in 2018 and knocking out Jeff Horn in the ninth round to take his WBO world title, the question has haunted Crawford.

When would he get a big fight?



The division was loaded with big-name talent, including Manny Pacquiao, Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. But Crawford was promoted by Top Rank, which was aligned with ESPN, and those other fighters were all with fierce rival Premier Boxing Champions, which had all of its events on Showtime or Fox.

So while the PBC fighters mostly fought each other in a series of major bouts, Crawford was on the outside looking in. Few disputed his pound-for-pound talent but he was stuck fighting one heavy underdog after another. In four title defenses he knocked out B-level opponents Jose Benavidez Jr., “Mean Machine” Egidijus Kavaliauskas and a pair of faded former world titleholders in Amir Khan and Kell Brook, his most recent victim last November.

There was constant public interest in a Crawford-Spence unification fight but that was going nowhere. Then it appeared as though Crawford might get a fight with Pacquiao, who was exploring a non-PBC fight in the United Arab Emirates this past summer.

Pacquiao and Crawford had agreed to a deal for a June 5 fight but the investment group promising to put up millions for a site fee missed key deadlines to deposit the money and the fight fell apart.

Crawford was stuck with nothing more than Top Rank chairman Bob Arum’s promise that he would fight this fall. But heck if Arum had any clue what opponent he could line up.

Then the WBO rode to the rescue and out of nowhere ordered Crawford to make a mandatory defense against longtime pal Porter, a former two-time WBC welterweight titlist, with a win over Garcia and Yordenis Ugas, razor-close losses to Thurman and Spence (in a unification fight) and deep respect throughout the sport.

With the fight mandated, Crawford in dire need of a top opponent, and Porter focused on another title shot, Top Rank and PBC, which had collaborated on the second and third Tyson Fury-Deontay Wilder heavyweight title fights, worked together to make the bout.

Voila! Crawford finally had his big fight.

“Terence is probably the best fighter in boxing and we have had problems getting him the best matches,” Arum admitted. “We finally succeeded thanks to PBC and ESPN.”

It will take place on Saturday (ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET, $69.99) at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay.

“I’ve been calling for these type of fights before I was even in the 147 division,” Crawford said. “Right after I won my undisputed title at junior welterweight I was calling for the No. 1 guys in the welterweight division – Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and everybody else. Porter is a top welterweight in his own right and has been in the ring with all the top welterweights. So, I’m looking forward to it.

Brian “Bomac” McIntyre, Crawford’s trainer and manager, was also thrilled to finally see Crawford secure a major fight.

“I’m excited because I think the world’s gonna see another version of Terence Crawford that they’ve never seen before,” he said.

Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs), 34, of Omaha, Nebraska, claimed he was not frustrated by the three-year wait for a defining welterweight fight, even though is seemed obvious to most there was some, especially when talk would ignite about a possible fight with Spence.

“Never, never,” Crawford insisted about not getting frustrated. “I don’t look at these fighters like everybody else do. These (opponents I was facing) are great fighters. They just went up against a better fighter at that point in time. ‘Mean Machine’ was a two-time Olympian. Benavidez was considered the next best thing since he was young. Amir Khan, former world champion, (Olympic) silver medalist. I could go on and on. Jeff Horn beat Pacquiao. But you all gonna take the credit away from them because of how I dismantled them.”

Crawford (left) nails Jeff Horn. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/ Getty Images

So Crawford waited and waited and waited. Now he has Porter.

“He’s facing everybody. He’ll fight anybody,” Crawford said. “He’s been fighting all these top welterweights. There was no thought process (making this fight when it was ordered) because I’ve been calling for the top welterweights since I came into the division. There was nothing I could do but bide my time, be patient and now we here and Shawn Porter is the one standing in front of me.”

McIntyre said Crawford was being honest about not being frustrated. McIntyre said he wasn’t either.

“I wasn’t frustrated. I wasn’t,” McIntyre said. “You just got to be patient with the game. Either the promotional company was gonna get it, or the network was gonna get it or we were gonna reach out and get it ourselves sooner or later. We got it now and I’m happy as sh–.”

Crawford added that he was not at fault for any major fight not materializing. He said he has always been ready, willing and able to fight any top welterweight but that those fights — other than the failed Pacquiao deal – were never presented to him to even gauge his interest much less negotiate terms.

“All you media outlets been blaming me for these type of fights not being able to get made and I’ve been telling you all I’ve been calling for the fights,” Crawford said. “I can’t make these fighters jump in the ring and fight me. It wasn’t Team Crawford’s or Top Rank’s fault that the fights couldn’t get made. I just wanted to point that out.”

But now that Crawford will get the chance to face Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs), 34, of Las Vegas, many view it as his toughest fight on paper. McIntyre is one of them.

“I think on paper this is gonna be his biggest test,” McIntyre said. “But in the past fights they always say this is gonna be his biggest test. Every time they say it’s gonna be his biggest fight he always makes it look easy.”

As big a win as it would be for Crawford, it would also be significant for McIntyre, who has worked with Crawford for his entire career and has been outspoken about his desire to be recognized as trainer of the year, especially because Crawford has in the past won fighter of the year honors.

“They keep passing over me and my coaches and not give us trainer of the year,” McIntyre said. “Damn right (a Crawford win) reflects on me and my coaches.”

Crawford, of course, hopes the fight with Porter is the first of many major fights to come. He views this one only as part of the legacy he is trying to cement.

“I just want to be remembered as one of the best fighters that put on the gloves,” Crawford said. “I want to be remembered for my skills, my ability to adapt to any opponent. I want to be remembered as one of the greats.”

A win over Porter will at least be a solid building block toward that aspiration.

 

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