Kenny Porter tells Terence Crawford: “I want the phone call” for the [Shawn Porter fight]

By Chris Williams: With all the talking Top Rank promoter Bob Arum did this month about him wanting Shawn Porter as Terence Crawford’s next opponent, he STILL hasn’t contacted Shawn or his dad/trainer Kenny Porter about making the fight happen. Kenny says he hasn’t been contacted by Crawford or Top Rank about putting a fight together, and he wants them to call him.

Arum was doing a lot of name dropping the week of WBO welterweight champion Crawford’s last fight against  Egidijus Kavaliauskas on December 14 in mentioning wanting to set-up a fight with Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs). But now that Crawford has beaten Kavaliauskas (21-1-1, 17 KOs) by a 9th round knockout, Top Rank still hasn’t started negotiations with Porter.

Kenny wants Crawford, Arum or Top Rank to call him as soon as possible so that they can make that fight. If not, then Porter will need to go in another direction. There’s no reason why Crawford shouldn’t want to fight Porter next unless he’s waiting to hear about the status of Errol Spence Jr. who will be interviewed tonight on FOX during the Tony Harrison vs. Jermell Charlo II rematch.

Kenny: We’re interested in making Crawford fight

“I don’t think it was a very tough fight for Terence at all,” said Porter’s father Kenny Porter said to Fighthub on Crawford’s win over Kavaliauskas. “Crawford did exactly what he wanted to do, and nobody expects Crawford to fight that way.

“So to the naked eye, it looks like he’s having a rough time, a hard fight,” said Kenny on the Crawford vs. Kavaliauskas fight. “But I saw nothing but confidence on his face as he was walking the guy down, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happen, which was him getting the knockout win. He fought a different fight than what everyone expects.

“So people look at that and feel it was harder for him, but it wasn’t,” said Kenny in giving his thoughts on Crawford’s performance against Kavaliauskas. “There’s no light to shed on at the moment, but we definitely have an interest in taking that fight with Terence,” said Kenny when asked if he has any information to give on a fight between Crawford and Shawn Porter.

There will be a lot of disappointed boxing fans if Crawford or his promoters at Top Rank choose not to reach out to Kenny to try and make the fight with Porter. The fans are tired of seeing the 32-year-old Crawford fight over-matched opposition with little talent.

Crawford has had too many years of soft opposition since signing on with Top Rank, and he needs to start fighting the elite level 147-pounders while he’s still in his prime.

According to Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn, Crawford’s last fight against Kavaliauskas on December 14 sold around 4,000 tickets at Madison Square Garden in New York. Those are woeful numbers.

Kenny Porter: It’s not hard for Crawford’s management to reach out to us

“Shawn and Crawford, I don’t think they’ve had any conversations since Terence’s fight [against Kavaliauskas],” said Kenny Porter. “They’ve had conversations before that, and they decided they had guys they wanted to fight before they fought each other. Now it seems like it’s presented itself that fight can happen sooner than later. I’m all for it.

“If the right information gets to us, it’s not hard,” said Kenny on making the Crawford vs. Porter fight. “It’s not hard for them to contact us, and reach out to us. We can’t on our behalf try and force something that we already have. And we do have some things in the works, but if they’re interested in reaching out to us, I’m taking calls,” said Kenny Porter.

If Crawford’s promoters don’t attempt to put the fight together with Porter, then it means they have other ideas for fights. WBO junior middleweight champion Patrick Teixeira has been mentioned as a possible fight for Crawford in March or April next year. Arum spoke of wanting to match Crawford against one of the light welterweights in Jose Ramirez, Regis Prograis or Josh Taylor.

Porter lost his last fight against Spence by a 12 round split decision on September 28. It was a close fight, but Spence did enough to get the nod by the scores: 116-111, 116-111 for Spence, and 115-112 for Porter.

Porter vs. Crawford is 50-50 fight – Kenny

“Shawn is a 50-50 fight for anybody. I don’t care what you think or what you say,” said Kenny. “I’ve looked at everybody in this division, and there’s nobody in this weight class that is going to step inside the ring with him that is going to walk through him [Shawn Porter]. Everybody is going to be at the edge, depending on what the judges are looking at.

“I can only speak for myself, but you can’t tell me that two judges saw Shawn only winning 4 rounds in that fight as close as it was,” said Kenny about Porter’s last match against Errol Spence Jr. “There’s no way in hell, but that’s what happened.

“As far as Terence Crawford is concerned, I’ll leave that up to the bookies and the pundits, whatever you guys decide what the odds are on the fight. I just want the phone call, give me a call.

Crawford vs. Porter definitely is a 50-50 fight, because Shawn is a better inside fighter. Unless Crawford intends on running all night to avoid Porter, he’s going to need to trade with him. That would be a hard fight for Crawford, because Porter is so much better than the guys that he’s been facing.