Kenny Porter wants Crawford, Pacquiao or Spence next for Shawn

By Boxing News - 05/14/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Kenny Porter is taking a machine gun approach to picking the next opponent for his son Shawn Porter. On the top of Kenny’s list of options for Porter’s next fight is WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao followed by WBO champ Terence Crawford.

What Kenny doesn’t realize is former IBF/WBC 147-pound champion Porter (30-3-1, 17 KOs) did himself more harm than good in his last fight in giving IBF champ Spence (26-0, 21 KOs) a tough time last September.

Porter is too tough for his own good

Spence had to battle hard to defeat Porter by a 12 round split decision in a close contest. After the way Porter gave Spence, 30, headaches, it’s not surprising that Crawford’s promoters at Top Rank and Pacquiao’s management aren’t beating down his door to get him as an opponent.

There’s nothing wrong with Kenny wishing for Crawford, Pacquiao, or Spence to give Porter a fight, but it’s not realistic. Instead, Kenny should be thinking in real terms by looking to put together a rematch with Shawn and Yordenis Ugas, who Porter beat by a controversial 12 round split decision last year in March 2019.

There’s unfinished business in that fight for Porter, and he needs to show the boxing world that he’s the better fighter because right now, people believe Ugas got robbed by two of the judges.

Image: Kenny Porter wants Crawford, Pacquiao or Spence next for Shawn

Pacquiao on Porter’s hit list

“I would want the biggest fight out there, but different things are going on that won’t allow that to happen,” said Kenny Porter on strength coach Larry Wades’ Instagram on Shawn wanting Manny Pacquiao next.

“Some of that is fighters we’re dealing with, and fighters coming off injuries and things like that. But the rest of the guys out there. If you could give me the fight that I want, that would make a great show that night. Manny Pacquiao,” said Kenny in naming the #1 guy that he wants for Porter’s next fight.

It’s reasonable to assume that Pacquiao will NEVER fight Porter because it’s a bad style match-up. Porter is physical in the same way Jeff Horn is, and Pacquiao won’t want to be roughed up for 12 rounds.

Porter has a habit of crashing forwards, head-first, and Pacquiao isn’t going to want to deal with that kind of style. In his Pacquiao’s fight against Horn in 2017, he suffered cuts from the Australian crashing into him head-first all night.

Pacquiao’s next fight is expected to be against Mikey Garcia after the lockdown. If he doesn’t face him, it’ll be someone like Danny Garcia. Even a rematch with Keith Thurman would be a better option for Pacquiao than for him to take on Porter and get roughed up for the entire fight.

There are good fights for Porter at 147, but none of them would against famous fighters like Pacquiao.

Porter should be trying to fight these guys:

  • Yordenis Ugas
  • Keith Thurman
  • Vergil Ortiz Jr
  • Josesito Lopez
  • David Avanesyan
  • Sergey Lipinets
  • Josh Kelly
  • Amir Khan
  • Kell Brook

Image: Kenny Porter wants Crawford, Pacquiao or Spence next for Shawn

Kenny talks about Porter causing Crawford problems

“Let’s not stop at Manny,” said Kenny Porter in talking about future fights for Shawn. “Terence Crawford. That would be an amazing fight. I love challenges. I’ve seen my son play cards. He’s a competitive dude. If you give him a mountain to climb, he’s going to do it. Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford. One-A, take your pick.

“Those are amazing fighters. Terence Crawford is one of my favorite fighters, if not my favorite fighters out there today. Shawn Porter is obviously my favorite fighter. Bud is everything. He is all that. He can do it both sides, both ways, orthodox and unorthodox. And he can punch, defense and everything.

“Let’s put him in with Shawn Porter, and let’s see if we can disrupt that and see if we can change some of the stuff that he’s used to doing and making him uncomfortable. It makes for a great fight. It makes for a great fight when you go back to what people say about styles making fights,” said Kenny.

Porter would cause Crawford all kinds of issues, and he might even beat him. Crawford’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank knows about the difficulties Porter would cause him, and that’s why he’s not chomping at the bit to make the fight.

Arum knows that Porter has been calling out Crawford, and he’s made any effort in putting the contest together. If this were Pacquiao showing the same interest in fighting Crawford, Arum would have pounced on that deal right away. Kenny needs to realize that if Arum wanted Porter for Crawford, he would have made that fight a long time ago.

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter 2 rematch

“Of course, we need and got to have Errol Spence part two, you know?” said Kenny Porter. “Shawn Porter and Errol Spence, we got to have that. There’s still the Keith Thurman’s of the world, and, of course, Danny Garcia is right there with everybody doing what he does.

“So all of these guys, when the gate opens back up, we plan on being there and being ready to come in there and be prepared.

“For whenever they say we can do it, we’re ready to kick that door in. We’ve already been working. We can talk about that as well,” said Kenny on Shawn.

Spence has already addressed the subject of a rematch with Porter, and he’s NOT interested in that fight right now. As far as Spence is concerned, he already beat Porter, and he’s moving on. Spence says he does want to fight Porter again, but after he faces Pacquiao, Crawford, Danny Garcia, and Keith Thurman.

Those fights could eat up the next two years if Spence takes them back to back. If the pandemic wipes out boxing for the remainder of 2020, then Porter is going to be waiting years before he gets a rematch with Spence.

The best way for Porter to get a fight against Spence, Pacquiao, or Crawford is for him to fight in a title eliminator. If Porter beats someone like Ugas or Vergil Ortiz Jr. in a title eliminator, then he’ll be in a position to force a fight with one of the champions.

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