By Chris Williams: Trainer John David Jackson say Errol Spence Jr. was exposed by Shawn Porter in their fight last Saturday night. Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) didn’t fight well on the inside against Porter. He wants Porter to pressure him in the rematch.
There isn’t a rematch scheduled, and it’s unknown if there is going to be one anytime soon. Spence will be defending his IBF/WBC welterweight titles against Danny Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) next on January 25 on Fox Sports Pay-Per-view.
Jackson: Porter should have asked for a weight clause for Spence fight
“It would have helped,” said trainer John David Jackson to Fighthype if Shawn Porter had insisted on a weight clause for his fight against Spence. “In the rematch, jump on Spence. He’s a good fighter, but his inside game isn’t as good as I thought it would be, and Shawn exposed that.
“Shawn exposed a few things on Spence. In the rematch, it’ll be even better, because Spence has got to make that weight again, and it’s going to drain him. Go right back to the body. Don’t change much. Keep that pressure on,” said Jackson.
Jackson doesn’t quite realize who the A-side was for the Spence-Porter fight. Yeah, Porter could have demanded a weight clause in the contract for the Spence fight, but then he wouldn’t have gotten the fight. It’s as simple as that.
If Porter had drawn a line in the sand demanding a rehydration clause, he would have been out of luck. So instead of Porter getting the fight with Spence, he would be looking at going over old ground in facing Yordenis Ugas in a rematch. That’s who Porter should have been fighting again anyway, because his win over Ugas last March was highly suspect. Jackson isn’t saying about Porter’s “win” over Ugas, but he should because the decision was troubling.
Porter can’t dictate terms for Spence rematch
There are some fighters that Porter can throw his weight around and demand a rehydration clause against, but Spence isn’t one of them. If Porter tries to make demands in negotiations for a rematch with Spence, he won’t get the fight ever. Jackson needs to step back and take a good luck at Porter’s situation in comparison to Spence’s. Porter isn’t the PPV buys.
He’s been the opponent. If there is going to be a rematch between Spence and Porter, it’s going to be negotiated in Errol’s favor. That’s just the reality. Porter won’t try and force a rehydration clause, because he knows who’s the A-side.
Porter can beat Spence if he jumps on him immediately
“Spence is still a good fighter. In the second time around, it’ll be a tough fight, but if Porter does a couple things different, he might get it,” said Jackson. That was a close fight. It could have gone either way. The knockdown probably saved Spence.
“The second time around now that you know your opponent is having a hard time making 147, jump on him, and stay on him like he did in the first fight. He had to be the one that dictated the pace of the fight, and he did that. He’s got to do it again. The second time around it should be even better,” said Jackson.
It might not work out well for Porter to try and jump on Spence in the rematch, if there ever is one, because he’s going to use a different approach next time. Spence almost surely going to box Porter in the rematch, and he’s not going to slug with him because it didn’t work out last time. Spence will also likely be in better shape for the rematch. He mentioned on his Twitter account that he’s not going to blow up between fights anymore.
Spence said he had to lose over 25 pounds during camp. If Spence is serious about coming into the rematch with Porter at a lighter weight, then he’ll be a different fighter. Just by boxing Porter for 12 rounds, Spence is going to make it a lot more difficult for Shawn.
Spence’s discipline impressed Jackson
“I always thought [Terence] Crawford was the best 147-pounder going in,” said Jackson. “I got a lot more respect for Spence after his fight with [Mikey] Garcia, but like I said, he showed discipline. Whatever fight plan his trainer put out and devised, he followed it to the tee. He should have knocked Garcia out.
“Trust me, he’s the bigger fighter, and the stronger fighter. I think he held back a little. For whatever reason, I don’t know, but he showed discipline. That really raised the bar for him. In this fight here [Porter], he was exposed in a couple of things. I’m not saying he’s not a good fighter, but I always thought that Crawford was the better all around fighter,” said Jackson.
Jackson was impressed with the way that Spence stuck to his game plan to box his previous opponent Mikey Garcia last March. Instead of looking to blast Mikey out, Spence focused on boxing him for 12 rounds, and looked a different fighter than fans had seen from him. Jackson thinks Spence should have gone for the knockout against Garcia, but he chose not to.
Crawford’s resume is too weak to say he’s the best welterweight
Jackson isn’t the only one that believes that Terence Crawford is the best all around fighter at 147. A lot of fans believe that to be the case. However, Crawford hasn’t been in a fight where he had to take a lot of heavy shots the way Spence has in his matches against Kell Brook and Porter. One reason for that is Crawford’s resume is woefully bad.
You can’t say that his promoters at Top Rank Boxing have been protecting Crawford. They’re trying their best, but after 11 years as a pro, Crawford has no one that you can rate as an elite level guy other than former WBA featherweight champion Yuriokis Gamboa.
For boxing fans that don’t remember that fight, Crawford was struggling badly until Gamboa slipped on the canvas in the 5th, and was hit while he was falling. The referee blew the call by failing to rule it a slip. After that, Gamboa lost his cool and started throwing wild shots, that played into Crawford’s hands. Crawford had a huge size advantage over Gamboa, and yet he had problems.
The rest of the guys that Crawford has fought during his career have marginal fighters like Viktor Postol, Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez, Amir Khan, John Molina, Dierry Jean and Julius Indongo. If Crawford ever does step it up against a talented fighter, fans will finally get a chance to see if he’s as good as people like Jackson says he is, but right now there’s a question mark over his head.
