By Chris Williams: Shawn Porter claims that he really beat Errol Spence Jr. in their fight last September, and he thinks the judges’ decision was “unjust.” For that reason, Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) doesn’t rate the unbeaten IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) among the top 3 fighters in the 147-lb division right now.
Porter sounds like he’s jockeying for a fight between himself and 41-year-old Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs). However, Porter likely won’t ever get that shot. There’s seemingly a long line of contenders and champions in front of Porter. These are the fighters that Pacquiao has a chance of fighting before he retires:
- Errol Spence Jr.
- Mikey Garcia
- Danny Garcia
- Keith Thurman – rematch
Porter, with his losses to Thurman and Spence, just doesn’t make the grade for a fight with Pacquiao. It’s great that Porter is willing to fight anybody at 147, but the fact is he loses to the quality fighters. He can beat the B-level contenders like Danny Garcia and Adrien Granados, but he loses when he fights the top level fighters.
Shawn doesn’t say where he rates Spence and Thurman
Porter sees himself, Pacquiao and Terence Crawford as the top three welterweights in the division. Unfortunately, Porter doesn’t say where he rates Spence, but it’s likely he sees him at #4 in the division behind the aforementioned top welterweights.
Additionally, Porter also fails to mention where he views Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman in the top welterweights in the division. Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) beat Porter by a close 12 round in June 2016. Porter never avenged that loss, so it’s unclear whether he feels that decision was “unjust” as well.
Kell Brook isn’t mentioned either by Porter, who lost to the British fighter in 2014. It would be sad if Porter thinks that decision was “unjust” as well. At some point, Porter has got to own his losses, and not dream up a different reality than the actual one that took place.
According to Porter, these are the important fights that will answer who is the #1 fighter at welterweight:
- Porter vs. Manny Pacquiao
- Pacquiao vs. Crawford
- Porter vs. Crawford
Spence beat Porter by the scores 116-111, 116-111. The third judge Larry Hazzard had Porter winning 115-112 over Spence. Boxing News 24 scored it for Spence 117-110. Spence dropped Porter in the 11th round, and landed the better shots throughout the fight.
Some boxing fans believe that Porter got away with having his trunks pulled up high to his rib cage to limit Spence’s target area. While Porter fans complained that Spence was hitting Shawn low all night, the reality is that his trunks were pulled up high, and that accounted for the phantom low blows that the fans saw.
Shawn Porter: “I beat Spence; the decision was unjust”
“He’s top 3,” said Porter when asked ‘where do you rate Crawford in the welterweight division?’ “I definitely think I’m in the top 3, and Manny Pacquiao is right up there. And I answered all the questions when I BEAT Errol Spence, and I feel like that decision was not just. I think he did a great job, but I think it’s clear to see who the better boxer is between myself and Errol Spence.
“The question remains to be scene, who’s better Manny Pacquiao or Shawn Porter or Manny Pacquiao or Terence Crawford or Shawn Porter or Terence Crawford,” said Porter. ?Those are the big fights out there,” said Porter in EXCLUDING Spence among the top 3 in the welterweight division.
It’s disappointing to see Porter sound so bitter and resentful about his loss to Spence. Porter is so seemingly disgruntled about the loss, that he’s failed to include his conqueror Spence among the top 3 in the welterweight division.
If you watch the Spence-Porter fight again, Porter was wild, and missing with a lot of his shots. In contrast, Spence was fighting Porter’s fight, and nailing him with body shots that were brutal to watch.
When Porter would throw, Spence would come back to nail him with tremendous shots. Down the stretch, Spence totally dominated the fight in knocking Porter down in round 11. It’s hard to win a fight when you get knocked down, and Porter isn’t saying much about that.
It would be interesting if he called the knockdown “unjust” as well. Porter comes across as a poor sport, and just another example of a fighter unwilling to take the high road to give his opponent credit.
Porter: Crawford needs to come over to our [PBC] side
“Listen, I’ve always been a Timothy Bradley fan, and I look forward to him commentating and do what he does,” said Porter to Behind The Gloves. “It’ cool to see a fighter get a job outside of fighting, so that’s cool to see. At the same time, I do understand he [Bradley] was trying to make a statement for ESPN, and trying to make a statement for Top Rank.
“It’s a bad way to make a statement,” said Porter on Bradley challenging the PBC fighters to cross the pond to face Crawford. “I think he essentially called out everybody that’s under the PBC banner, and that’s just not right.
“None of us are afraid to fight anybody that’s out there,” said Porter. “It just so happens that most of us are on PBC side, so why do we need to cross the street [to fight Crawford] when all the fun is over here [with PBC]. Why do we need to hopefully have some fun, and then try and come back to do what we’ve already been doing, you know? To have some fun, he’s got to come over to our side of the fence,” said Porter on Crawford.
Eventually, Crawford will be forced to come over to the PBC side, but it might be too late in the game for it to be worth anything. Crawford is about to turn 33, and he’s under contract with Top Rank Boxing. Just when that contract expires is unclear. It wouldn’t be surprising if it takes Crawford passed his 36th birthday. By then, he might be too old for it to be worthwhile for him to fight the PBC guys.